'Operation Full Circle:' More than 50 arrested in Chicago-area drugs case

CHICAGO — More than 50 people face drug-related charges in a case prosecutors say involves Chicago dealers, a Wisconsin courier and Mexico-based trafficker.

The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago said Wednesday that seven people are charged federally and 48 under Illinois law. Many were arrested Tuesday.

Federal court filings say 60-year-old Krzysztof Rak ran a drug trafficking organization in Mexico and worked with a Wisconsin-based courier to distribute fentanyl to Chicago's West Side.

In the same investigation, dubbed "Operation Full Circle," 30-year-old Tekoa Tinch is accused of agreeing to kidnap someone $500,000 in debt to Mexican traffickers. Prosecutors say the Bloomington, Illinois, man was arrested before he could carry out the plan.

Tinch's lawyer, Kent Carlson, had no comment Wednesday. Court filings didn't list an attorney for Rak.