Two charged in $2 million DuPage cocaine bust

A woman accused of running drugs and her driver were held Monday on $1 million cash bonds after authorities say they found 20 kilograms of cocaine during a weekend traffic stop in Willowbrook.

Fernando A. Rivera and Melissa Zambrano, both 29, were in DuPage County jail on charges of cocaine trafficking and delivery or possession of a controlled substance. Each must come up with the full amount of the bond to be freed.

Prosecutors said the pair was pulled over just before midnight Saturday on I-55 at Route 83 after narcotics investigators learned of a large shipment of cocaine bound for the area. A subsequent search uncovered the cocaine — valued on the street at $2 million — in two hidden compartments inside the vehicle, Assistant State’s Attorney Audrey Anderson said.

She said Zambrano, who identified herself in bond court as a mother of four, later confessed that she has been running drugs between Illinois and California for about three months. She told police she was paid between $4,000 and $12,000 to take large sums of cash out west and return with cocaine, Anderson said.

Steve Loan, director of the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group, which has an ongoing investigation into the case, said the drugs originated outside of the country.

“It was definitely a sizeable bust with ties to a Mexican drug trafficking organization,” he said. “Even though she (Zambrano) was coming through California, the drugs came from Mexico.”

Judge Michael Wolfe ordered the cash bonds for Zambrano, of the 500 block of East Gunderson Drive in Carol Stream, and Rivera, of Midlothian. Should the defendants post bond, he said, they also must prove the money comes from legitimate sources and not the drug trade.

In addition to her drug case, prosecutors said, Zambrano faces misdemeanor charges of endangering the health or life of a child for allowing a 14-year-old to drive her vehicle on March 18 in Addison while a 2-year-old was in the back seat. She also is accused in that case of leaving a 6-year-old unattended in her vehicle for more than 10 minutes, according to court records.

Authorities said Rivera and Zambrano each could potentially face up to 120 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.