PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday revealed that five individuals were arrested for a drug trafficking conspiracy.
According to a United States Attorney’s Office Central District of Illinois press release, the five defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy alleging that they acted together to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine.
The five individuals are 53-year-old Juan E. Bernal, 40-year-old Maria Guadalupe Flores-Cano, 43-year-old Juan Carlos Figueroa-Ramirez, 22-year-old Edgar Daniel Perez-Hernandez, and 31-year-old Edgar J. Tello.
The five of them began to distribute approximately on Feb. 1, 2019, and continued to distribute to the present in Tazewell, Peoria, and Logan Counties and elsewhere.
The indictment was returned to the grand jury on May 17 and was sealed pending the arrests. All five defendants were arrested Monday and appeared for their initial court appearances Tuesday.
All five individuals remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals.
A jury trial has been set for July 25, 2022.
The DEA, the Pekin Police Department, the Peoria Police Department, IRS, HSI, and ATF, alongside Peoria Multi-County Enforcement Group, Central Illinois Enforcement Group, United States Postal Service, Illinois State Police Air Ops, National Guard Counter Drug, Illinois State Police Districts 8 and 9, and DCI Digital Evidence Recovery assisted with the investigation.