Police: Kilo of cocaine mailed to La Salle man

A La Salle man awaits a detention hearing Tuesday after officers from multiple agencies seized a kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of cocaine and two firearms.

[ Police: Kilo of cocaine mailed to La Salle man ]

Luis Y. Quinones-Pereira, 26, is charged with controlled substance trafficking and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Because of the volume of the purported cocaine (a kilo is 2.2 pounds), the La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office computed a mandatory sentencing range of 20 to 100 years.

Quinones-Pereira will be formally admonished when he appears Tuesday in La Salle County Circuit Court. He was brought before a judge Monday, but an interpreter was not available to translate for Quinones-Pereira.

He was charged Friday after agents with the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team – assisted by the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office, La Salle Police Department, Ottawa Police Department and U.S. Postal Inspectors Office – tracked a suspicious package mailed from Puerto Rico.

Although the package was addressed to a woman, police determined that Quinones-Pereira was the intended recipient.

“Agents conducted a controlled delivery of the package, and as a result, Quinones-Pereira was arrested,” police said in a news release sent Monday. “Additional residences connected to Quinones-Pereira were then searched, and located was a pistol with extended magazines, an AR-15-style rifle along with items used on the packaging and delivery of narcotics.”