The drugs had a street value

The drugs had a street value of $250,000, according to police, who also recovered cellphones and notes containing distribution information.

"It's this department's biggest arrest, at least in my 27 years plus on the force," said Police Chief Thomas Weitzel. "He's a major player who set up and rented that apartment for the specific purpose of processing, packaging and distributing heroin in the area."

A Cook County judge set Brown's bail at $350,000 cash. He remains at Cook County Jail. Weitzel said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has expressed interest in picking up the case. For now, the Cook County State's Attorney is pursuing charges locally.

Police had Brown, a reputed member of the Vice Lords street gang, on their radar for more than a month, after officers noticed suspicious activity near the four-unit building. On Monday, they got their chance.

About 1:10 p.m. an officer stopped a suspicious 2001 Buick Century in the vicinity of Haas and Ogden avenues. The driver, later identified as Brown, was arrested for driving on a suspended license. A patdown reportedly turned up $4,300 in cash and pills of the drug ecstasy, which were packaged for delivery.

By roughly midnight on Tuesday, police, armed with a search warrant and drug-sniffing dogs, entered Brown's apartment. The dogs weren't really necessary.

"There was cocaine and heroin blowing all over the place," said Weitzel. "Everything was coated in heroin."

Police had to wear masks as they collected evidence in the apartment. While officers found more 623 grams of heroin, two empty 1 kilo packages found inside the apartment indicated that Brown had already distributed most of his stash.

They found four unopened boxes, each containing 72 packages of Dormin, an over-the-counter sleep aid, used to mix with the heroin. Police also found eight empty Dormin boxes.