Chicago has been fighting a challenging battle against drug trafficking. The recent conviction of Kelvin Franklin, a major trafficker in the city, underscores this predicament. Today, the United States Department of Justice reported Franklin, 32, leader of a drug cartel, was sentenced to a 12 and a half year federal prison term following his guilty plea to a federal drug conspiracy charge.
Active in Chicago's Humboldt Park vicinity, Franklin's cartel sold heroin, fentanyl-laced heroin, and fentanyl-analogue laced heroin on the city's Northwest Side, up until 2019. Efforts by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Chicago Police Department (CPD) ended their activities, as per the DOJ.
Other than overseeing 15-member cohorts, Franklin took part in to the drug sale. Him, alongside other managers, coordinated with low-level dealers to ensure a steady narcotics supply. Such members occasionally distributed free drugs, lure customers to procure more from them.
Drug traffickers like Franklin often rely on violence to safeguard their operations and arm themselves to intimidate competitors. Franklin sought to acquire a loaded handgun for an associate in the open-air drug market. However, the law enforcement intercepted, seized the firearm, and consequently contributed to Franklin's sentencing, as detailed by the DOJ.
The endeavor that led to bringing Franklin to justice was backed by the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force (HIDTA), a conjunction of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, geared towards identifying and dissolving major drug trafficking operations.
