Feds: Gage Park man had more than 50 kilos of drugs in apartment

A Southwest Side man is facing a federal drug charge after authorities seized more than 50 kilograms of heroin and cocaine from his apartment, according to the feds.

Marcelino Nunez-Hurtado, 47, faces one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

ICE uncovered the drugs after a confidential informant provided information in July that Nunez-Hurtado was involved in drug trafficking, federal prosecutors said.

On Aug. 22, agents watched Nunez-Hurtado hand suspected cocaine to someone sitting in the passenger seat of a Cadillac Escalade parked in an alley behind his rented apartment in the Gage Park neighborhood, prosecutors said. Hours later, agents searched the apartment and found tools used to measure and package narcotics.

After noticing a screwdriver on the floor just inside the attic door, agents discovered an access panel above the landing of the stairs leading to the attic.

The panel led to a compartment in which agents found numerous bricks of heroin, weighing more than 41 kilograms; and multiple bricks of cocaine, weighing more than nine kilograms, according to prosecutors.

Nunez-Hurtado was arrested Sept. 13, according to the feds. A detention hearing is set for 2:30 p.m. Sept. 26 before U.S. Judge Michael Mason.

The drug charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.