News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DEA Special Agent in Charge Rick Saunders met with the Chicago Media recently to praise the cooperative effort of federal and Chicago area law enforcement and the contribution that these forces made in Operation Northern Star. Drug Enforcement, IRS, and Customs agents and local police arrested defendants in several south suburbs of Chicago in connection with Operation Northern Star, a nationwide investigation of illegal trafficking in pseudophedrine, an essential ingredient in manufacturing the illegal drug methamphetamine. Eight defendants, including two arrested today in Cincinnati, face federal drug-trafficking conspiracy charges in Chicago for allegedly illegally importing pseudophedrine from Canada and distributing it to California, where it was manufactured into methamphetamine. Two of those eight and a ninth defendant were charged in Chicago with money laundering conspiracy for allegedly disguising the pseudophedrine proceeds and sending the money out of the country, principally to Jordan. A 10th defendant in Chicago was charged with attempted illegal possession of pseudophedrine. DEA SAC Sanders, together, with Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, James W. Martin, Special Agent-in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Robert V. Smith, Jr., Chief of Police of the Village of Oak Lawn commended the extensive cooperation among local, federal, and foreign law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigation, including the RCMP and the following local police departments: Oak Lawn, Justice, Bridgeview, Palos Park, Waukegan and Chicago; the Cook County Sheriff's Police; the Cook County State's Attorney's Office; and the U.S. Marshal's Service.

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