Drug-Dealing Fugitive Captured In Detroit After 14-Year Manhunt

DETROIT (WWJ) - A drug-dealing fugitive from Chicago on the run for more than a decade has been brought down in Detroit.

Eddie Hicks, a former police officer of thirty years, is accused of posing as a federal agent in order to steal drugs from other dealers then re-sell them. Hicks skipped trial in 2003 and was on the lam for 14 years until his arrest Tuesday by FBI agents in Detroit.

Hicks was ordered to be held pending his next court appearance in Chicago.

Hicks, 68, was wanted for his alleged involvement in a drug conspiracy in the Chicago area. The government says he and four other accomplices would pose as Drug Enforcement Administration task force officers, prepare false search warrants to gain entry to stash houses of known drug dealers, confiscate drugs, money, and other valuables, and then take the drugs to another dealer to be sold. The profits were split among the individuals involved in the scheme.

Hicks is the only member of the group that has yet to stand trial for these charges. He was charged with RICO conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, extortion conspiracy, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a narcotics conspiracy, and theft of government funds.

Hicks was scheduled to appear for trial on June 9, 2003, but he never showed, launching the years-long manhunt.