Accused heroin ringleader busted with $1 million, 37 guns
Less than a month ago, Chauncey Griffin had a BMW SUV with rose gold rims, nearly $1 million in cash and at least 37 guns, investigators say.
On Tuesday, he wore an orange jail uniform to a court hearing where he was described as a major supplier of heroin and cocaine in Milwaukee. He and 23 others are charged with offenses ranging from drug activity and illegally carrying guns to conspiracy to making a firebomb.
Griffin, 35, faces 18 felony charges — mostly for illegal gun possession — and is believed to be the supplier for 20 midto high-level dealers in the Milwaukee area, officials said during his preliminary hearing.
“He was a large-scale, kilo source of heroin and cocaine,” West Allis Detective Nick Stachula said.
Authorities announced the takedown June 18 during a news conference but provided almost no details about the investigation. The 80-page criminal complaint explaining the allegations remains sealed and out of public view.
The hearing on Tuesday provided the first public view of the case.
Wiretap, surveillance
Griffin’s movements and phone calls were tracked from May 14 to June 6 by federal, state and local investigators with the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, Stachula said.
The team monitored “thousands” of calls and watched Griffin for 12 to 14 hours a day, the detective said.
In one call, Griffin can be heard “bragging or educating” John Edwards who had said he made about $50,000 selling marijuana, Stachula said.
Griffin laughed and told Edwards he was making between $200,000 and $500,000 selling heroin and cocaine, the detective said.
Edwards, 38, also appeared in court Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to manufacture or deliver cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He waived his preliminary hearing and entered not-guilty pleas.
A full kilogram of heroin has a street value between $75,000 and $83,000, while the same amount of cocaine is valued between $28,000 and $32,000.
20-ton kilo press found
In court, Assistant District Attorney Megan Newport asked Stachula to describe where the activities took place.
He said Griffin had a stash house on North 28th Street, a residence on North 29th Street and frequently sold drugs close to where he grew up, near North 3rd Street and West Keefe Avenue.
Another key location was Detailing by Robert, a car wash on Green Bay Avenue, the detective said.
The car wash owner, Robert J. Binsfeld, 66, faces one charge of maintaining a drug-trafficking place. He also appeared in court Tuesday, waiving his hearing and pleading not guilty.
The task force searched multiple properties linked to Griffin on June 18, the day of the take-down and news conference.
Stachula listed some of the items found:
❚ Two-kilo presses in the basement of the house on North 29th Street, as well as a scale, assault rifle, two handguns, $60,000 and cellphones. Griffin was arrested at this location, he said.
❚ In a storage facility, authorities found 34 guns of various sizes, between $800,000 and $900,000 and photos of Griffin posing with the cash.
❚ In another storage facility, they found the BMW SUV with two rose gold rims, two guns, a cutting agent, a cellphone and a 20-ton kilo press.
The hydraulic presses are used to compress drugs into brick-sized kilogram packages after the drugs have been mixed with a cutting agent.
When it’s refashioned on the press, it “appears it’s untouched,” Stachula said.
Fentanyl-laced heroin
Griffin got his drugs, the detective said, from Arthur Smith Jr., a cousin who lived in Northlake, Illinois, just south of O’Hare International Airport.
Stachula said Griffin was interrogated for about two hours and admitted to selling drugs and buying 8 to 9 kilograms of heroin from Smith during the five weeks he was under surveillance.
Smith, 38, also was arrested and admitted to selling that amount to Griffin, Stachula said.
Authorities searched a storage unit in Northlake linked to Smith and Griffin and found a vehicle with 2 kilograms of fentanyl-laced heroin in the trunk, as well as a small bag of fentanyl, the detective said.
Smith, who is charged with conspiracy to manufacture or deliver heroin, waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday.
His attorney sought to lower his bail from $100,000 to a signature bond, citing his lack of criminal record and strong family ties to Milwaukee.
Newport, the prosecutor, opposed that motion and said bail had already been lowered from $400,000. Judge Frederick Rosa ordered Smith’s bail to remain the same.
As for Griffin, Rosa found “more than adequate evidence” of probable cause that a felony was committed in Milwaukee County — the standard used in preliminary hearings — and bound him over for trial.
Griffin remained in Milwaukee County Jail on Tuesday on $250,000 bail.