North Side gang members who allegedly plotted to kidnap, kill and dismember a drug dealer were arrested as a result of a collaborative task force investigation, which also led to arrests in two unsolved murders, officials said Monday.
Bernardino Garcia, 31, of the 3100 block of Eastwood Avenue; Juan Soto, 23, of the 1800 block of North Mannheim Road; and Ceasar Hernandez, 32, of Morton Grove were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery. Bond was set at $250,000 for Garcia, $125,000 for Soto and $80,000 for Hernandez.
Ismael Solis, 26, of the 3200 block of North Central Park Avenue and Tarek Albitar, 20, of Niles were also charged in connection with the plot as well as the unsolved murder of gang member James Van Sach. Their bond was set at $5 million and $1.25 million, respectively, for their alleged involvement in the two cases. Another man, Harold Cardona, 22, of the 2400 block of West Pensacola Avenue was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the unsolved case. His bond was set at $1.5 million.
Prosecutors described Solis as a ranking member of the Latin Kings.
Grand Area Cmdr. Lee Epplen said all are members of the violent street gang that deals heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana around West Lawrence and North Kedzie Avenues.
The gang members met in Wells Park on Thursday and discussed their plan to kidnap another gang member–who was being secretly monitored by police–to force him to reveal his drug stash, Epplen said. They then plotted to kill him, cut up and dispose his body, Epplen said.
Guns recovered in the arrest were connected to the July 26 killing of Joshua Siguenza, 20, in the 2900 block of West Lawrence Avenue and the Sept. 4 slaying of Van Sach, 33, in the 4800 block of West Gunnison Street.
Van Sach was shot to death because he didn’t obey the gang hierarchy, Epplen said. Siguenza was also a gang member who was killed because he allegedly caused conflict within the gang.
Hector Cortez, 26, of the 4900 block of North Whipple Street was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Siguenza and had bond set at $1 million. Antonio Martinez, 18, of the 4700 block of North Albany Avenue was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly hiding the murder weapon under his bed for three months. His bond was set at $40,000.
“These street gangs, they can’t take you to court and they can’t fire you so this is what they do. They kill you,” Epplen said.
The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which is made up of local, state and federal officials, was created in June to combat drug-related homicides, said Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Phillip Cline. It’s funded through the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
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