Acting upon reports of illegal activity including drug sales, underage drinking and miscellaneous wrong-doing, over 100 law enforcement officers, from multiple agencies, raided three East St. Louis nightclubs as well as three Crown Food Marts, recently, in a crackdown on businesses with possible links to crime.
The nightclubs targeted were Club Posh, Club Rolex and Club 103 (the scene of a recent murder and robbery).
Referred to as “Operation Last Call,” officers in camouflage gear, armored trucks, bullet-proof vests and weapons, swarmed their targets like something out of a Hollywood movie, emerging with bags of evidence as well as a handcuffed security guard.
The raids produced citations pertaining to liquor sales, sanitary conditions, false corporate information and purchasing liquor at retail prices for resale, all violations of the Illinois Liquor Control Act.
A security guard from Club 103 was even arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.
The three Crown Mart convenience store/ gas station raids produced even more shocking results, with owners being charged with selling everything from synthetic marijuana to erectile dysfunction drugs as well as peddling misbranded items.
The Crown Mart Owners Abusaid “Mike” Majed, Mohammad “Steve” Musleh, Mustafa Makhlouf and Shaltaf Murad all had their liquor licenses suspended, as prosecutors brought 57 charges against them.
Their court date, before St. Clair County Circuit Judge Stephen McGlynn, is scheduled for July 13.
But, make no mistake about it, “Operation Last Call” is as much political as it is practical.
ESL Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. has repeatedly pretended not to see or care about the necessity of curtailing late night liquor sales at East Boogie nightclubs and liquor stores, with the results being, in some cases, horrific.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin has pleaded, repeatedly, for Parks to take proactive measures in cutting off liquor sales at a reasonable hour, to no avail, as has U.S Attorney Stephen Wigginton and St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly.
So, since Parks has abdicated his leadership (as mayor and liquor commissioner) by being irresponsible, Wigginton and Kelly have usurped that role by declaring open season on East Boogie’s nightclubs and other questionable activities.
Parks’ reluctance to act, based upon the tired excuse of “lost revenues,” has created the climate for a “hostile takeover” of ESL night life. Patrons shouldn’t get shot or murdered simply because they want to party. Nor should thugs be allowed to loiter and intimidate customers who simply want to purchase gasoline at the local Crown Mart.
And that doesn’t mean that ESL nightclubs should be closed. Party-goers, especially young adults, need an outlet. I get that.
However, when partying becomes synonymous with illegal drugs, excessive drinking, violence, shootings and murder, then any reasonable person (including the party animals) should finally say “Enough”.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
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