70-year-old man found with $1 million of heroin on NW Side, prosecutors say

A 70-year-old man is facing charges of selling a kilogram of heroin to undercover officers — and of possessing over $1 million of the drug — in the Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Manuel Mejia Rojas, who lives in the Little Village neighborhood, was charged with class X felonies of delivering and possessing a controlled substance, according to Cook County states attorneys. He was held on $300 bail.

Rojas allegedly sold over a kilogram of heroin to undercover officers about 7 p.m. in the 4700 block of West Belmont Avenue, according to Chicago police. Officers also found about seven kilograms of heroin in his possession.

The drugs had an estimated street value of over $1 million, according to prosecutors.

“That’s a lot of drugs, son,” Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. said at a bail hearing Saturday in the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on the Southwest Side.

Judge Lyke asked what bail he could afford to pay, and Rojas replied $300. Lyke set his bail to $300 and order him to be placed on electronic monitoring.

Rojas’ defense attorney said he stays employed through a temp agency.

He was scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 15 at Branch 44 in the Lawndale neighborhood.