(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — After a yearslong investigation, a Chicago man has been arrested on felony drug charges after prosecutors said they found more than $1 million worth of fentanyl and methamphetamine in what they described as his South Side lab.
Allen Dean has been on law enforcement’s radar since at least 2019, after Cook County prosecutors said the now-30-year-old had fentanyl mailed to Chicago from California.
In a press release, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) said it received intelligence that two packages had been shipped to Dean in February 2023. In a search of the packages, investigators said they found a pill press. A tracking device on a press led the DEA to a lab near 80th Street and Union Avenue, prosecutors said.
That’s where agents found more than 5,000 pills of fentanyl and meth, over 1 pound of the same narcotics in powder form, as well as a stamp to make them look like prescription meds and a chemical suit.
On that same day — March 30 — DEA officials said they observed Dean arrive near the site of the lab. When agents tried to stop Dean, prosecutors claimed he fled in a vehicle on the sidewalk between apartments.
Officials said Dean then fled on foot and allegedly stole a different vehicle, which was later found abandoned, but Dean had escaped.
On May 15, the DEA said it located and arrested Dean. A judge set bail at $500,000.
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