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Nearly 100 busted in Southland drug sting

A sting operation attempting to rid crack cocaine from the south suburbs came to an end last week after seven months.

The Cook County sheriff's police as well as police from Chicago Heights, Ford Heights and Hazel Crest joined forces with the state's attorney's office to make 95 arrests as a result of the investigation.

The sting named "Operation Day Shift" was an effort to shut down drug sales during the day and move gangs out of the Ford Heights and Chicago Heights areas.

"Gang-bangers and dope dealers in the south suburbs are going to be seeing a lot more of us," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said.

The two gangs involved were the Four Corner Hustlers and the Gangster Disciples, Dart said.

The gangs had moved drug dealing to mornings because afternoons and evenings are more heavily patrolled by police.

So, while school youngsters walked by, undercover officers made several drug purchases within 1,000 feet of two elementary schools: Warren Palm in Hazel Crest and Medgar Evers in Ford Heights.

Sales that close to a school automatically raise charges by one class.

Some people arrested included Janathan Fultz, 25, of the 2100 block of West 167th Street in Hazel Crest; Michael Garfield, 21, of the 14100 block of South Leavitt Avenue in Dixmoor; and Cue T. Gibson, 27, of the 8100 block of South Green Street in Chicago.

Garfield and Fultz were within 1,000 feet of a school, and each were charged with delivery of a controlled substance.