Parolee back in jail after large amount of drugs found during Riverside traffic stop

By Sun-Times Wire

A parolee pulled over for speeding in the western suburbs now faces multiple drug charges after police found narcotics hidden in a sophisticated secret compartment in his car.

Gregory Turner Jr., 27, was driving a 1999 black Buick when he was pulled over for going 52 mph in a 35 mph zone about 9:40 p.m. July 15, according to a statement from Riverside police.

The officer could smell a strong odor of burnt cannabis when he approached the car, and when asked, Turner said that any drugs found in the vehicle were not his, according to police. He said they were left there by his girlfriend, who he’s lived with for the past two months in Willowbrook.

A K-9 unit alerted to the presence of drugs in the car, according to police, and Turner was taken into custody and the vehicle searched, which was not an easy job.

“In this case, the drugs were so well hidden that once the canine hit on the compartment of the vehicle, a female officer had to remove her bullet-proof vest to be able to squeeze through the compartment to be able to recover the narcotics that were hidden in a pass-way between the back seat of the car and the trunk,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the statement.

In all, police found 54 individual plastic bags of heroin, each weighing 24.26 grams; 24.26 grams of cannabis, and 10 pills of Xanax, police said. All of the items were individually wrapped for distribution.

Turner was charged with a possession of heroin, possession of Xanax, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, and possession of cannabis, police said. He was also cited for speeding. The heroin charge was a Class X felony because of the large amount.

Police found he has a lengthy criminal background for drugs, burglary, weapons offenses; and at the time, he was on parole for an armed robbery committed in Chicago.

He was ordered held without bond, and will next appear in court Aug. 3 in Maywood, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.