Feb. 16--Three people were arrested after a west suburban task force raided a suspected drug house in Oak Park, authorities said.
Police seized a little more than an ounce of methamphetamine and smaller quantities of powder and rock cocaine, marijuana and a plant substance police believe to be hallucinogenic mushrooms, Riverside police Chief Tom Weitzel said.
The raid was conducted Friday in the 1100 block of South Euclid Avenue in Oak Park by WEDGE, a west suburban drug and gang task force made up of members from 11 police departments.
Also seized at the scene were handwritten agreements to lease space in the house to drug users, Weitzel said.
The target of the investigation was Edward P. Creedon, 32, who lived in the house and sold drugs, according to the police chief.
Two other people also were arrested: Matthew A. Cooley, 35, of the 3000 block of West Lyndale Street in Chicago, and Danielle A. Dipego, 30, of the 700 block of North Linden Avenue in Oak Park.
Police said Cooley and Dipego were renting illegally from Creedon, who used the income to support his drug operation. Cooley was charged with possession of a controlled substance and Dipego with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Creedon was charged with four felonies and two misdemeanors in connection with the operation, according to a release from task force.
The task force covers a 15-square-mile area of the west suburbs where almost 300,000 people reside.
"This proximity to the West Side of Chicago is significant because of the historical presence of gangs, guns and drugs in that portion of the city of Chicago," according to the task force's executive summary.
"Some of these (gang) members are trying to set up street operations because the Chicago Police Department is putting heat on them," Weitzel said. "We don't have the resources Chicago does, so we needed to get this task force together."
Friday's arrests marked the first time since the task force began operating in 2008 that it encountered methamphetamine, Weitzel said.
