Effingham, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV) — Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly announced Tuesday the ISP Metropolitan Enforcement Groups, or MEGs, had a higher percentage of drugs and weapons seized in 2021, recovering illegal drugs valued at approximately $71,000,000.
Citing the urgent need to address the continued epidemic of opioid and meth addiction across the state, Kelly praised the MEGs in a statement.
“Through the strong state, local and federal partnerships of the MEG units, drug enforcement across our state is focused on apprehending violent, drug-trafficking criminals profiting off the pain of those losing loved ones to dangerous drugs” Kelly said. “The ISP is thankful for the community-based partnerships like those of the MEG units because it leads to a more united, more effective front pushing back against these merchants of misery causing of this ongoing epidemic.”
During 2021, MEG agents in nine different units opened approximately 1,404 investigations and closed approximately 1,131 cases, the release said, with approximately 1,247 ongoing investigations. MEG agents made 2,229 seizures of illegal cannabis, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, fentanyl, heroin, LSD, methamphetamine, pharmaceuticals, psilocybin and other drugs with an estimated street value of just under $71,100,000.
These seizures resulted in 878 arrests for either delivery or possession of those illegal substances. ISP in the release said they also made 68 “gang-crime related” arrests.
The statewide totals for MEGs can be seen below:
Illinois’ nine MEGs encompass 20 counties including DuPage, Lake and Vermillion Counties. Some groups are assigned to metropolitan areas such as Joliet, Kankakee, and Quad Cities. A map of the MEGs jurisdiction is shown below.
Each MEG, the release said, is overseen by a policy board composed of ISP officers, elected officials and chief law enforcement officers or their designees.
