Chicago (WLS) — The leader of Chicago’s federal drug enforcement operations has left her role. According to the I-Team, DEA Special Agent in Charge Shelia Lyons has now retired.
Lyons, a Chicago native and Bradley University graduate, made history as the first woman to lead the Chicago DEA field office.
Her departure coincides with the release of a new DEA report that gives insight into nationwide cocaine issues and emerging trafficking patterns, highlighting Illinois as a major area of concern.
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The DEA Chicago field office’s large number of notable cocaine busts in the last year is prominently featured in the agency’s “Cocaine Report.” This involves cocaine exhibits that were submitted as evidence and analyzed by regional laboratories.
Those labs also analyzing evidence from other federal agencies, such as FBI, ATC, ICE and HSI.
“We might be small, but we’re a formidable agency focused on protecting communities,” Lyons mentioned in an interview with the ABC7 I-Team just last month, where she touched on the administration’s efforts dealing with the fentanyl crisis, battling cartel violence, and the recurring rise in cocaine trafficking in the Chicago area.
“In the Chicagoland vicinity, as well as throughout Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, we frequently encounter major drug seizures, most notably involving fentanyl and escalating cocaine cases,” she noted.
The DEA’s 2024 report underscores a concerning development. Although the total cocaine seized at the state level doesn’t account for all busts, only those evaluated by a regional DEA lab are included in this snapshot. The leading states for cocaine seizures are border states like California and Texas, with Illinois placing significantly third. Illinois also ranks near the bottom for cocaine purity, raising significant concerns about the potential for fentanyl, other narcotics, or harmful substances being mixed into the product.
“You just never know what you’re taking or you’re getting. It could exchange hands five, six or 8 times, and each time you’re at the mercy whoever the drug dealer is that wants to add some, you know, mix to it, to try to, like, make it a stronger load, or have more quantity to it,” said Michael Gannon, a former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Chicago Division based in Indianapolis.
He added that the seizures track with the cartel distribution playbook in the Chicago region.
“You have Indiana the crossroads of America, and you have Chicago and Illinois, with all the major freeways and highways and interstates where people can move it all over the country. It’s no surprise that we’re getting significant seizures of cocaine,” he said.
And while Lyon’s trailblazing time as the first woman to lead Chicago DEA is finished, she said the work continues.
“Yes, we have a law enforcement duty. Yes, we’re passionate about finding the bad guys and bringing them to justice, but we’re also mothers and fathers and partners and sisters and brothers and sons and daughters, and we have children that we want to see live in a healthy world and make better decisions. And I really do believe that in all my years with DEA, I’ve never seen us be so strong in marrying those two foundational pillars,” she said.
Lyon’s successor as special agent in charge of the Chicago DEA field office has not yet been named, but whoever it is will have cocaine on their radar.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime just reported production, seizures, and use of cocaine all hit new highs in the last few years.
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