Two students were arrested in connection with illegal drug sales and possession of illicit drugs Thursday as part of “Operation Safe Streets”.

Ryan Allen, 21, of Algonquin and Jeffrey Smythe, 22, of DeKalb, were arrested in connection with the sale or possession of controlled substances.

Allen is charged with possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, possession of cannabis, possession of drug paraphernalia. Allen’s bond was set at $10,000.

Smythe is charged with delivery of cannabis and possession of cannabis. His bond was set at $1,000.

Allen and Smythe were two of 30 individuals who were issued drug-related arrest warrants, said former DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen at a press conference Thursday.

DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said “Operation Safe Streets” is complete. Moving forward, DeKalb Police aim to find and arrest the remaining suspects, Spangler said.

Feithen said arrests began Wednesday evening, and 22 individuals are currently in custody. Eight suspects are still at large, Feithen said. Twenty-six warrants were issued for alleged dealers and four were issued for alleged drug users, Feithen said.

“Local law enforcement is committed in its efforts in continuing to make this a safe community to rid neighborhoods and the campus area of drugs,” Feithen said. “We feel this sends a strong message to the community that we want to work with the community in putting drug dealers behind bars.”

DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said 20 officers were involved in the sweep, and a small amount of drugs were seized.

Feithen said there were varying amounts of drugs seized which included prescription medicine, cocaine and cannabis.

“Keep in mind that the way we arrest them is through controlled buys and other types of operations,” Feithen said. “Although the amounts may be relatively small, they are still serious crimes.”

 

Feithen said the investigations happened over a six-month period, and the arrests originated from another investigation and arrests made in December 2011.

Clay Campbell, DeKalb County state’s attorney, thanked the officers involved in carrying out the arrests.

“Any operation like this operation that we’ve conducted involves countless individuals working countless hours,” Campbell said.

Feithen said out of the 30 suspects, eight are known gang members and some other individuals arrested are associates of gang members. Feithen said the DeKalb Police Department is not in the habit of releasing individual gang names. Weapons were also recovered during the course of the arrests and further charges are pending for those individuals.

Feithen said the sweep involved a combination of experienced gang and drug enforcement officers, investigators and employed uniformed police officers for a visible police presence and additional assistance during the arrests.

Spangler said so far, the arrests have not been met with any resistance.