Heroin Ring Possibly Operated Within City Water Department

By Sam Bakken in News on Jun 8, 2005 5:55PM

This morning federal prosecutors alleged that a branch of a Colombian heroin ring operated within our fair city's water department. Because the news only broke an hour or so ago, details right now are a bit sketchy. The headlines scream that the heroin distribution ring operated "in", "at" or "inside" the water department, but the stories never quite explain anything besides the fact that three of the individuals were water department employees. The media aren't explaining whether the charges say the heroin dealing was done using city resources or on city time, and the scarce details lead us to believe that maybe three of the alleged heroin traffickers just happen to be water department employees. The Sun-Times tells us that the government informant involved in the investigation "was engaged in the conspiracy during normal weekday working hours," but nothing about those actually charged.

The eight individuals arrested here in Chicago this morning are to appear in court at 2:00 p.m. today. Surely we'll get a clearer picture an hour or two after that. We can't say anything except "Holy Shit!" If this happened on city time with our tax dollars, it's just. too. creepy. The water department has been under scrutiny lately after allegations that they gave trucking companies department business in exchange for payoffs in the hired truck scandal. And just last Friday, nine employees were fired for falsifying their time sheets at a city filtration plant.