Secret DEA lab examines cocaine surging into Illinois and surrounding states

In a lab in an undisclosed location in downtown Chicago, a brick of cocaine awaits testing by Oliwia Nazaruk, a forensic chemist with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The sugary, compressed white cocaine is stamped with an “L.A.” logo. The plastic packaging that wraps the brick also has an L.A. label in blue-and-white Dodgers colors — likely a Mexican drug cartel’s trademark.

Cardboard boxes containing millions of dollars of cocaine are stacked in a cavernous vault at the lab. Rising quantities of the drug have been seized so far this year by the DEA and other law enforcement agencies in the Chicago area and surrounding states.

“Right now, cocaine seems to be coming back,” says Leah Law, a DEA supervisory chemist.

Outside the vault, a maze of long antiseptic hallways leads to three labs where 30 chemists use elaborate equipment such as infrared scanners to test cocaine and other seized drugs.

In one lab, Nazaruk stabs a brick of cocaine with a long hypodermic needle and inserts the powder into a test tube containing a solution of red cobalt thiocyanate. The liquid turns blue.

Bingo: cocaine.

In 2018, the DEA anticipated cocaine would flood U.S. markets because Colombians were ramping up their production of the drug. In 2022, the DEA’s Chicago office made huge seizures of cocaine. And last September, the DEA said the availability and use of cocaine were continuing to rise because of record-level production in Colombia.

Now there are signs DEA cocaine seizures this year could even surpass those in 2024 in the Chicago area and across the country.

Some key statistics:

• In the DEA’s Chicago Field Division, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, the agency seized almost 3,300 pounds of cocaine in all of 2022 compared with 4,210 this year through July 30. 

• Last year, Illinois ranked fifth in the country in DEA cocaine seizures behind California, Texas, Florida and New York.

• The purity of the cocaine coming across the border into the United States has risen sharply. The DEA says bricks of cocaine tested in 2020 were about 54% pure across the country on average. Now they’re about 84% pure on average across the U.S., but slightly less so in Illinois.

Testing the cocaine for impurities

At the DEA lab, testing tells the chemists what kind of material was used to “cut” the cocaine to increase its volume and make it more profitable to sell — everything from sugar to baby laxative. The tests also flag lethal drugs such as fentanyl that might wind up in the mix through cross contamination in a clandestine cartel lab somewhere in South America.

Nazaruk’s working space is homey. Succulent plants line her window and colorful stuffed toys are piled up near her desk. But there’s no mistaking the high security surrounding her job. She stores her samples in her own padlocked metal box. Only she knows the combination.

Despite the upswing in cocaine seizures, Law says the lab is fully staffed and able to keep up with its testing deadlines.

“We’re not in a place where we have so much cocaine coming in we don’t know what to do with it," she says. "We’re keeping up.”

Some samples get special priority, such as drugs used in fatal overdoses and those tied to cartel investigations. They get a turnaround of less than a month. The rest are completed in less than two months.

Cocaine and other drugs are sent to the lab by agents with the DEA and other federal agencies like the FBI. When DEA agents need to know where the coke was produced, the samples are then sent to a lab in Virginia for more testing, which can show the region of origin inside a country. That helps agents confirm which cartel is moving the cocaine.

Cocaine once again a ‘party drug’

Margarito “Jay” Flores, once the biggest cocaine trafficker in Chicago history along with his twin brother Pedro, spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times about the surge of cocaine and the rise in purity.

Flores is now a consultant to law enforcement agencies, teaching about how Mexican drug cartels operate. He’s hosting a seminar in October in the Chicago area.

“Today, there’s a shift toward powder cocaine as a ‘party drug,’ similar to its popularity in the 1970s,” Flores says.

“The consumer base has shifted demographically, as well,” he says. “Powder use today is more common among white and Hispanic users in social settings, as opposed to the crack markets of the past” in predominantly African-American communities on the West and South Sides.

“In some circles, it’s even being marketed with flavored additives or branding that boosts its appeal in nightlife and social environments.”

A U.N. report released in June says cocaine “is the world’s fastest growing illicit drug market,” especially in Europe where violence among traffickers is rampant. About 25 million people used cocaine around the world in 2023 — up from about 17 million a decade earlier. The study tested wastewater to estimate cocaine use in particular areas.

Worldwide cocaine production has climbed by 34% since 2022, according to the report.

Law enforcement officials could have more impact on curbing cocaine sales by targeting those with “specialized skills that are not so easily replaceable, such as mid-level managers, chemists and money launderers,” the report says.

According to the report, “Drug trafficking groups are largely unaffected by random or indiscriminate pressure, yet that type of enforcement is one of the most common. It often ensnares couriers, drivers and retailers, who represent the most exposed but also the most replaceable actors.”

Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, once headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, remains one of the three biggest suppliers of cocaine to the United States along with the Jalisco New Generation and Beltran Leyva cartels, officials say.

In 2019, El Chapo was convicted in New York on federal drug conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison largely because of the testimony of Margarito Flores, once one of the Sinaloa cartel’s biggest customers. Flores, who, according to prosecutors, imported tons of cocaine from 2005 until 2008 when he agreed to cooperate with the DEA, has served a 14-year prison term.

Reasons for cocaine surge

He says the surge in DEA cocaine seizures is driven by several things, including the sons of cartel leaders cooperating with the U.S. government.

“In addition, availability is at unprecedented levels,” Flores says. “The market is saturated, and pricing reflects it. Chicago, in particular, is seeing kilo prices at all‑time lows, lower than anything I witnessed during my trafficking years. When availability is high and competition is fierce, organizations move larger volumes, often with less cutting, to sell faster. That creates more opportunities for law enforcement to seize substantial loads.”

It’s difficult to know whether the rising cocaine supply in the Chicago area is leading to more users dying or being hospitalized because of overdoses. Cocaine is less lethal than drugs such as fentanyl and heroin. And Cook County medical examiner autopsy reports show cocaine is often found in “cocktails” of those more potent drugs.

According to data from the office, there were 302 cocaine-related deaths in Cook County this year through July 18, compared with 485 deaths over the same period of 2020. Fentanyl-related deaths have also declined since 2020.

A few years ago, cocaine users in Chicago and other cities began using test strips to see whether their coke was contaminated with fentanyl and other opioids that could kill them. The strips, which can show fentanyl in pills, powders or injectables, are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a cheap way to prevent overdoses.

“While fentanyl contamination remains a real risk, I believe most users today are not testing their cocaine before use,” Flores says. “Higher purity levels and trust in their suppliers reduce perceived need for testing. However, the risk hasn’t gone away. It’s simply less top‑of‑mind when purity appears high.”