Illinois State Police reveal results of crackdown on guns, drugs, human trafficking

Last year, specialized units with the Illinois State Police seized about 200 firearms and more than 10,600 pounds in narcotics across northeastern Illinois.

The state law enforcement agency released data Tuesday that recognized the efforts of its metropolitan enforcement groups and task forces to thwart the trafficking of guns, drugs and people.

Those specialized units are comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement.

Illinois State Police also highlighted how those units have cracked down on human trafficking by arresting 27 people associated with the crime and recovering 15 victims of trafficking.

Last year throughout Illinois, the units had seized 718 firearms, 17,812 pounds of drugs and arrested 1,904 people, according to the Illinois State Police.

In Will, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, DuPage, McHenry, Lake and Cook counties, seven of those units had seized 199 firearms and 10,618 pounds in narcotics.

“The [Illinois State Police] metropolitan enforcement groups and task forces are critical to [combating] trafficking and stopping the flow of drugs and guns into our communities,” Brendan Kelly, director of the agency, said in a statement.

In Bolingbrook, the arrest of six people last year on charges of indecent solicitation of a child and grooming was the result of an investigation by Illinois State Police, Joliet Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad and Will County Police Assistance Team, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

The units that cover northeastern Illinois include Will County Cooperative Police Assistance Team, Joliet Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, Kendall County Police Assistance Team, DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group, North Central Narcotics Task Force, Narcotics and Currency Interdiction Team and Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group.