FIRM'S EQUIPMENT SEIZED IN DRUG RING INQUIRY

Search For Buried Weapons In Family's Yards Unsuccessful

Law enforcement agents seized equipment from a business they say was used by members of the alleged Lopez family drug ring to launder money, receive drugs and melt guns previously used in shootings, federal court records show.

In addition, investigators dug holes in the yards of two properties of Lopez family members in an unsuccessful hunt for guns and hand grenades, records show.

Meanwhile, three more people were charged in the drug conspiracy case, bringing the total to 13, according to a superseding indictment unsealed last week.

The newest defendants are Aurora Lopez, 36, Estevan Alvarado, 29, and Gerardo Hernandez, 38.

The three - as are all the defendants in the case - are charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

Alvarado, who was convicted of burglary in 1994, also is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Assistant U.S.  Attorney Michelle Leslie told U.S.  Magistrate Judge Patricia J.  Gorence in court last week that agents found six guns, a bulletproof vest and a black ski mask in a car parked in Alvarado's garage.  Alvarado lives in the 900 block of W.  Madison St.

Prosecutors allege that a Lopez family conspiracy operated since at least 1995 and was centered in the area of S.  8th and W.  Madison streets.

Conspirators used violence and intimidation to maintain loyalty and control over the areas where it operated, the government alleges.

Agents last month seized grinders, generators, a polisher, an air compressor and other equipment from J.L.  Finishing, 816 W.  National Ave., according to a search warrant made public last week.  The government contends that the equipment was used in drug trafficking.

J.L.  Finishing is a chrome-plating business owned by Julian Lopez, one of the alleged leaders of the conspiracy.

Informants told investigators that Julian Lopez and others melted down guns at the shop after they were used in shootings, "which were typically drug-related," special agent Jay S.  Novak of the state Division of Narcotics Enforcement said in an affidavit.  One informant said the melted metal from the guns was thrown into Lake Michigan.

Another informant told investigators that 100 pounds of marijuana was unloaded from a produce truck backed into the J.L.  Finishing loading dock in March, the government alleges.

Julian Lopez is charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with first-degree intentional homicide while armed in the slaying March 17 of Anthony S.  Davis on a loading dock at Garden-Fresh Foods, in the 700 block of S.  12th St., and the shooting death March 21 of Khaled Jilani, 20, in the 700 block of W.  Pierce St.

An informant allegedly also told investigators in the federal case that J.L.  Finishing was used to launder drug proceeds.  Lopez family members and others involved in the drug conspiracy would be on the payroll but do little actual work, court records say.

Novak says in the affidavit that Julian Lopez is believed to share leadership in the conspiracy with Arturo Lopez.

Novak previously said in an affidavit that Arturo Lopez "regularly had guns and is known as one of the most violent of the family members." Arturo Lopez was incarcerated in 1998 and 1999 for threatening to kill police officers who arrested his son for driving after his license had been suspended, according to the affidavit and state court records.

Novak's affidavit says Arturo Lopez discussed with an informant homicides involving family members and that he directed one of the homicides with which Julian Lopez is charged.

Informants also reported that Arturo and Julian Lopez talked about having guns buried in the yards of family members, Novak says.

An informant reported hearing Julian Lopez discuss burying a safe containing grenades, and the informant saw the grenades, "which were wrapped individually in plastic, in the safe and overheard Julian tell ( another defendant ) to be careful handling them," Novak says in the affidavit.

Investigators searched three yards with metal detectors and dug holes in two of them, in the 700 and 800 blocks of W.  Madison St.  No weapons were found or seized, according to the search warrants.