Melrose Park man charged with possession of cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana with intent to deliver

DUPAGE COUNTY – A Melrose Park man was arrested for allegedly being in possession of cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana with the intent to deliver.

On Wednesday, a Kane County sheriff’s deputy witnessed a vehicle on I-88 near the Route 59 exit allegedly make multiple traffic violations.

After pulling the car over, the officer says inside the vehicle he found more than 900 grams of cocaine, between 15 and 100 grams of fentanyl, and between 200 and 500 grams of weed.

In addition, the officer allegedly found hidden compartments that had been added to the vehicle.

Officials say Jose R. Valdez, 44, was the lone occupant of the vehicle. He’s been charged with the following offenses.

• Unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver cocaine, Class X felony
• Unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver fentanyl, Class X felony
• Unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, Class 3 felony
• Installing a false compartment in a vehicle to transport a controlled substance, Class 4 felony

Valdez appeared in bond court Friday and is being held on a $500,000 bail.

“While we will never know for sure, it is quite possible that considering the amount of fentanyl allegedly found in this case, multiple lives were saved,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.

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Valdez is next due in court on Jan. 5, 2022.

This drug bust was a result of a joint task force operation between the Kane and DuPage County sheriff’s offices, called the DuKane Sheriff’s Task Force.