Two men were arrested last week after a police officer who stopped them for speeding found over a kilogram of heroin in their vehicle near Lake Forest.
A Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2016 Nissan Frontier around 6 p.m. on November 16.
The deputy noticed the driver was speeding and following too closely to vehicles in front of him, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
The deputy stopped the vehicle as it was traveling northbound on Interstate 94 at Route 60 near Lake Forest.
The traffic stop was conducted by Deputy Dwight Arrowood and his canine partner, Duke. During the stop, Duke alerted to the Nissan after detecting the presence of drugs, Covelli said.
A search of the vehicle following Duke’s alert revealed the driver and passenger were in possession of over a kilogram of heroin, Covelli said.
The driver was identified as Elvis Brenes-Duarte, 39, of the 4300 block of Butterfield Road in Hillside, and the passenger was identified as, Lazaro Hurtado-Hernandez, 30, of the 100 block of Braddock Drive in Melrose Park.
Brenes-Duarte was charged with: unlawful possession of heroin with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of more than 900 grams of heroin, speeding, following too closely and driving without insurance.
Hurtado-Hernandez was charged with unlawful possession of heroin with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of more than 900 grams of heroin and open transportation of alcohol.
Brenes-Duarte and Hurtado-Hernandez were both arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail where they remain held on a $500,000 bond.
Both are scheduled to appear in court on December 17, court records show.