Two Round Lake residents are facing multiple years in prison for allegedly receiving dangerous drugs including fentanyl from a drug cartel through the mail and then trying to sell them, authorities said.
Mykal Wade, 35, and Akeem Shofidaya, 39, of Round Lake, are facing four class X felony charges of possession of a combination of drugs with intent to deliver, four class one felony charges of possession of a combination of drugs, and a misdemeanor count of endangering the life of a child for having a 2-year-old in the Round Lake home where the drugs were being stored, court records show.
Wade is also facing a class 4 felony charge of destruction of evidence.
Both were ordered held in Lake County jail for a detention hearing Monday afternoon by Lake County Associate Judge Jacquelyn Melius.
In total, Lake County prosecutors said Wade and Shofidaya were in possession and intending to sell 132 grams of cocaine, 66 ecstasy pills, 16.9 grams of meth, 937 grams of fentanyl, and 887.5 grams of cannabis out of their Round Lake home.
Prosecutors said in court Saturday officers with the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group (LCMEG) were contacted by the Drug Enforcement Agency in Arizona that a suspicious UPS package from a known drug cartel was heading for Wisconsin and Illinois.
DEA agents told LCMEG that other packages from the same group had been sent to the Round Lake address where Wade and Shofidaya resided, prosecutors said.
LCMEG officers intercepted the package at the post office and a K9 determined the package had various controlled substances.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the package and found drugs that field tested positive for fentanyl, officials said.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the home where the package was intended to be delivered, then reboxed the package and, dressed as a delivery person, drove the package to the house Friday, June 14.
After placing the package on the front porch, Shofidaya opened the door, scanned the area, then took the package into the house, prosecutors said.
LCMEG agents surrounded the house after the package was brought in, prosecutors said, and told Wade and Shofidaya to exit the home through a loudspeaker.
Prosecutors said Shofidaya came outside and was immediately placed into custody. However, Wade didn’t come out during an additional 10-minute period.
Officers entered the home and found Wade in the washroom trying to flush assorted drugs down the toilet. She was taken into custody.
During the search warrant, officers recovered cocaine, ecstasy pills, meth, fentanyl pills, and fentanyl powder along with a high amount of cannabis.
In addition, officers found a safe where they recovered a ghost gun with ammunition, an extended magazine, and an undetermined amount of cash.
Police also found a two-year-old child in the home.
Melius ordered Wade and Shofidaya held in Lake County jail until a detention hearing on Monday.