Chicago faces growing risks from hidden meth labs and counterfeit pills

Chicago faces growing risks from hidden meth labs and counterfeit pills

Crystal meth and the makeshift labs some people set up inside their own homes posed serious safety risks for law enforcement back in the early 2000s. Today, those dangers still exist.

CHICAGO - Crystal meth and the makeshift labs some people set up inside their own homes posed serious safety risks for law enforcement back in the early 2000s. Today, those dangers still exist.

Unit 32’s Tia Ewing explains how and why in a Fox Chicago special report.

First responders exposed during Crestwood apartment call

The backstory:

Last September, Crestwood police and fire were called to this building in the 12700 block of South Central Avenue.
According to police reports, it was "...for a well-being check, later reclassified as a potential crystal methamphetamine lab with hazmat level 2 concerns."

Eight first responders — four police officers and four firefighters — were taken to the hospital after they began experiencing negative effects from fumes being released from an unknown substance on the stove in a ground-level apartment.

In addition to the fumes, they also found 38-year-old John Fiacchino unresponsive and rushed him to the hospital.
Fiacchino is now charged with two felony counts for possession of meth and mushrooms. He's also charged with reckless conduct for creating a level 2 hazmat situation in his home by setting up "...what appeared to be a methamphetamine laboratory."

Smaller labs replacing large-scale meth operations

What they're saying:

The Illinois State Police Department's clandestine lab team also responded to this incident. They specialize in dismantling and disposing hidden drug labs.

In the last three years, they have been called out at least 33 times, 28 of them were to get rid of a meth lab.

"We aren't seeing the large-scale production of methamphetamine like we saw in the early 2000s," said Todd Smith, the new special agent in charge of the DEA’s Chicago Field Division. "We've seen more of a shift into these counterfeit pill labs."

"So, we see labs in different places. We see them in people's homes, we see them in garages, we’ve seen them in warehouses at varying scales," Smith added.

Smith and his agents know firsthand more and more of these pill labs are popping up across the United States.

"So, in 2025, we seized double the pill presses that we seized in 2024 throughout the Chicago Field Division. And that's a concerning trend that we're seeing nationally," Smith said.

Counterfeit pills driving new overdose concerns

Why you should care:

Smith says that’s a real concern because it shows a shift they've seen of more fentanyl powder and methamphetamine across the U.S. being pressed into pills locally.

"There's a greater risk of overdose. The person manufacturing the pill wouldn't necessarily know the potency of the fentanyl or the methamphetamine," Smith said.

Last June, Chicago DEA agents arrested a 32-year-old Frankfort man for running a fentanyl lab out of his girlfriend's Oak Lawn apartment.

According to court records, the DEA's undercover investigation found James Howard would make the pills in the apartment's kitchen and then pack them in a comforter blanket and leave them in the hallway outside to be picked up.

Smith says it’s not uncommon for the fake fentanyl pills to look like another drug.

"They've been doing it for years, distributing counterfeit Oxycodone M30’s that contained fentanyl and didn't contain Oxycodone. And now you're seeing a shift in production to not only manufacturing clandestine counterfeits. Oxycodone pills, but also counterfeit Adderall pills that contain methamphetamine," Smith said.

In 2025, the Chicago DEA seized 1.7 million counterfeit fentanyl pills.

Despite that, they say their main concern is the increase in counterfeit meth pills and the record high number they grabbed last year, which was just under half a million.

What parents and caregivers need to know

What you can do:

The DEA says its number one piece of advice for parents or caregivers is to talk to your kids about the dangers of illegal drugs — specifically counterfeit pills.

Stress to them that if a pill was not prescribed to them by a pharmacist, or if the pill was not prescribed to them by a doctor, and they received it from a pharmacist, do not take that pill, even if it's a trusted person.