DuPage, Kane counties’ sheriffs announce fentanyl, cocaine arrest

The Kane and DuPage counties’ sheriffs announced Friday their first major arrest under a new partnership investigating drug crimes.

A DuPage County judge set bail at $500,000 Friday for a Melrose Park man charged with delivery of cocaine, fentanyl and cannabis.

Jose R. Valdez, 44, of the 1300 block of North 24th Avenue, was arrested at 12:54 p.m. Wednesday on I-88 near Route 59 in DuPage County by a Kane County sheriff’s detective.

According to a news release from the Kane County sheriff’s office, the detective found two aftermarket hidden compartments in the 2015 Nissan Sentra Valdez was driving. The driver’s seat and the front passenger’s seat would raise electronically. The compartments spanned the entire floorboard of the vehicle, according to the news release.

Detectives found 6.27 pounds (2,984 grams) of cocaine, 6.08 ounces (170 grams) of crack cocaine, 1.33 ounces (37 grams) of fentanyl, 1.49 pounds (675 grams) of cannabis, and $5,000, according to the news release.

Valdez is charged with delivery of cocaine over 1,000 grams and delivery of 15 to 100 grams of fentanyl, both Class X felonies.

He also is charged with felony delivery of cannabis -- more than 500 but fewer than 2,000 grams; felony installing a false compartment to transport controlled substances; and misdemeanor possession of cannabis by a driver.

“I’m happy that our new cooperative effort is bearing fruit so fast,” DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said Friday. “Most troubling about this arrest is the amount of deadly fentanyl that was destined to wreak more havoc on our community. Nationwide, our overdose rates are at an all time high and what we took off the road was is what is contributing to those numbers.”

To be freed pretrial, Valdez would need to post $50,000 as bond. If he does post bond, he will have to wear an electronic monitor and be confined to his home.