Entire Family Arrested in Illinois Pot Bust

An Illinois family is accused of running a million-dollar "designer marijuana" grow operation from their home.

John Gecan, 52; his wife Darlene, 52; their son Christopher, 27; and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted the grow op in the 7,000-square-foot home in an unincorporated area near Tinley Park, according to Cook County Sheriff's officials, reports Chicago Breaking News Center.

Sheriff's detectives said they began investigating the family earlier this month after intercepting a package of marijuana buds addressed to the home.


L-R: John Gecan, 52; his wife Darlene, 52; their son Christopher, 27; and another relative, James Osmolski, 22, were charged after police busted a "sophisticated" pot growing operation
​ John and Christopher Gecan were arrested Tuesday after they received the shipment of marijuana. During the arrest, detectives claimed they smelled a "strong odor of pot" coming from the house and saw "drug paraphernalia," including cannabis pipes and a grinder, "in plain view" in the garage, officials said.

Dozens of marijuana plants and a sophisticated marijuana cultivation operation were found inside the home, according to detectives. Police removed 97 plants, 2,960 grams (almost six pounds) of marijuana, and $7,511 in cash, along with a "small amount" of cocaine, police claimed.

Police claimed the street value of the marijuana is "more than $1 million," saying the Gecans cultivated "an unusually high quality product."

According to officials, a large section of the home's basement was occupied by the marijuana growing operation.

A "dummy wall" concealed several rooms where family members divided up different stages of the cultivation process. The rooms were set up with insulation, automatic temperature control, dehumidifiers and an elaborate ventilation system with air filtration, according to officials.

Some of the plants were as much as six feet tall. Police claimed the family used charters and computers to track production, harvesting and pricing, with prices ranging from $40 for a quarter ounce of "regular" marijuana to $4,409 for a pound of "primo" cannabis.

Police also seized lighting fixtures, irrigation tables, fertilizer and indoor hydroponic equipment.

John and Christopher Gecan and Osmolski had bails set at $50,000 each, while Darlene Gecan had bail set at $25,000. All were charged with marijuana possession and with intent to deliver.

John and Darlene Gecan were released on bond Thursday afternoon, while young Christopher Gecan and Osmolski were still in Cook County Jail, according to the sheriff's office.

11 Tons of Marijuana Found in Railroad Cars

Seven people were arrested after almost 11 tons of marijuana was found packed into six railroad boxcars from Mexico in what is being called possibly the largest pot bust in Chicago-area history.

The cannabis was found at a south suburban warehouse this month, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which claimed the pot was worth $22 million, reports Chicago Breaking News Center.

The warehouse raid came after Customs agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, came across a Union Pacific train headed for Chicago Heights carrying about 21,800 pounds of suspected marijuana, the office said.

Agents "observed a number of large bundled packages, referred to as 'super sacks,' in six cars on the train," the office said.

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Photo: Prime Juice Media
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley: "Every day there's pot coming to Chicago. America loves pot"
​ The agents looked inside one of the sacks and saw "13 cubic bundles, which were encrusted in a thick layer of fine red masonry pigment dust." Tests showed all the packages contained marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Shipping documents said the sacks contained titanium ore sent by Comercializadora De Minerale, a company in Jalisco, Mexico, and were bound for Earth Minerals Corp. in Rockdale, just south of Joliet, Illinois.

The packages were then resealed and the railroad delivered them to a warehouse in Chicago Heights, according the the U.S. Attorney's Office.

One of the suspects, Carlos Osvaldo Quintero, spoke to a Union Pacific employee "several times" about the delivery, according to the office. From December 6 through December 10, the rail cars were unloaded by forklifts to a storage facility next to the warehouse, the office said.

Agents said they did not see any marijuana being removed from the storage facility before the arrests -- but if some of the pot made it onto the street, I don't imagine they'd rush to admit that.

Charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana were Quintero, also known as "Carlos Gomez" and "Miguel Dominguez," 31; his father, Martin Quintero, 63; Felipe de Jesus Magana-Campos, also known as "Padrino," 47; Eduardo Angel Zalayaran-Ruiz, also known as "Other Inge," 54; Javier Vera, also known as "Ducky," 24; Christian Gonzalez, 24; and Miguel Cordova, 20.

The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life imprisonment and a $4 million fine.

Even large marijuana busts like this and the family bust in Tinley Park won't make a noticeable difference in Chicago's cannabis supply, admitted a surprisingly frank Mayor Richard Daly.

"Every day there's pot coming to Chicago," Daley said. "America loves pot, they love guns. Every day, you could write headlines every day. And every day Chicago police make an arrest, in a home, in a car."

Wow, that's pretty poetic, for a mayor. Hey Mayor Daley, did you ever consider a career as a slam poet?

"There's so much coming in," Daley said. "Both we have homegrown pot, and we have pot from foreign countries."