Teen Charged in Bedtime Pot Bust

Oak Lawn plainclothes police were patrolling the 93rd Street area around 10:30 p.m. March 16 when they noticed a car stopped in the middle of the street on the 9200 block of South Kedvale.

Police said Airife Ahamed, 19, was opening his car hood. Believing that Ahamed’s car was disabled, police went to offer their assistance when they saw another 18-year-old male wearing pajamas dash out of the house to meet Ahamed at the front of his car.

The cops pulled up behind Ahamed’s car and activated their lights, at which time the other youth began to walk quickly away. Police told the youth to stop.

Ahamed also appeared to put something under the hood and close it before walking quickly to the driver’s side of his car, police said.

Police asked Ahamed and the 18-year-old what they were doing and neither answered. Ahamed finally said he was there with his 15-year-old girlfriend, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat, according to reports.

The 18-year-old told police he was wearing his pajamas because he was heading to bed. When asked what he was looking at under Ahamed’s hood, the youth replied, “I don’t have anything on me but $10,” police said.

Police said that when the 18-year-old couldn’t explain why he had $10 in his pajamas if was going to bed, he admitted that he was about to buy two small bags of pot for $10 from Ahamed.

Ahamed was extremely nervous and sat on the rear bumper and denied having his hood open and said he didn’t know what the cops were talking about, police said.

According to police, Ahamed told them they could search his car but there was nothing illegal in it. Police saw a plastic bag behind the grill under the hood. The bag contained 33 smaller bags filled with what later tested positive for cannabis.

Police read Ahamed his rights. He admitted he had been selling weed for the past few months. Ahamed proceeded to tell police that a dealer fronted him the marijuana “already bagged up,” police said.

Ahamed bought the package for $150-$200 and earned $5 per bag; he admitted he was there to sell the 18-year-old some pot, police added.

Ahamed, of the 9300 block of South 52nd Avenue, was charged with two felony counts of intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession. He appeared at a bond hearing in Bridgeview on March 17.

The 18-year-old was released to the custody of his mother at the scene and was not charged.