Illinois Police Seize Drugs During Residence Search
July 3, 2019
Police in Illinois charged a 29-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man with drug possession and drug possession with the intent to distribute after allegedly discovering significant quantities of cocaine and heroin in their Coles County residence. The two people were taken into custody on the afternoon of June 27 when officers from the Mattoon Police Department, the East Central Illinois Task Force and the Coles County Crisis Response Team executed a search warrant. The suspects were both transported to the Coles County Jail for processing.
According to media accounts, the two suspects were attempting to destroy evidence when police entered their Mattoon home. During a search of the Marshall Avenue property, officers allegedly discovered approximately 20 grams of a substance believed to be cocaine and in excess of 26 grams of a substance identified as heroin. The way the drugs were packaged indicated that they were for sale, according to police. About $1,800 in currency was also seized.
Initial reports do not reveal what may have led police to determine that the residence was being used to store and distribute narcotics. The man and woman also face preliminary counts of destroying evidence. After completing the arrests and booking the suspects into jail, police turned the case over to the Coles County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Experienced criminal defense attorneys may advise individuals accused of committing serious drug offenses to remain silent when presented with a set of facts like these. Attorneys may also scrutinize police reports and search warrants carefully before deciding how to proceed. Drugs discovered by police during a residence search may be ruled inadmissible if search warrants were obtained based on questionable probable cause, and narcotics charges may be dismissed if the evidence supporting them was only discovered when officers went beyond the scope of a search warrant.