CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago’s top federal drug enforcement official has stepped down from her post. The I-Team has learned that DEA Special Agent in Charge Shelia Lyons has retired.

Lyons, a Chicago native and Bradley University graduate, made history as the first woman to lead the Chicago DEA field office.

Her retirement comes as a new DEA report provides a snapshot of cocaine concerns and new trafficking trends nationwide, with Illinois high on the list.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

A bevy of significant cocaine seizures by the DEA Chicago field office over the past year is highlighted in the administration’s “Cocaine Report,” which involves cocaine exhibits analyzed by regional laboratories that were submitted as evidence.

Those labs also analyzing evidence from other federal agencies, such as FBI, ATC, ICE and HSI.

“We are a small but mighty agency, and we are built for protecting people,” said Lyons, who sat down with the ABC7 I-Team just last month to discuss her administration’s work on the fentanyl crisis, combatting cartel violence and the cyclical uptick of cocaine trafficking in the Chicago region.

“Top significant drug seizures that we see in the Chicagoland area, throughout Illinois and Indiana and Wisconsin, I would have to say that, yes, fentanyl… increases in cocaine everywhere,” she said.

The 2024 report published by the DEA punctuates the troubling trend. While the total amount of cocaine seized by state does not reflect all cocaine seizures, just those that were analyzed by a regional DEA lab, in the snapshot, leading the nation in cocaine seizures are the border states of California and Texas, with Illinois a significant third and with a cocaine purity level second to last in the nation, which leads to the real possibility of fentanyl, other drugs, or toxic chemicals being cut into the product.

SEE ALSO | DEA Chicago field office touts progress after record fentanyl busts: I-TEAM EXCLUSIVE

“You just never know what you’re taking or you’re getting. It could exchange hands five, six or 8 times, and each time you’re at the mercy whoever the drug dealer is that wants to add some, you know, mix to it, to try to, like, make it a stronger load, or have more quantity to it,” said Michael Gannon, a former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Chicago Division based in Indianapolis.

He added that the seizures track with the cartel distribution playbook in the Chicago region.

“You have Indiana the crossroads of America, and you have Chicago and Illinois, with all the major freeways and highways and interstates where people can move it all over the country. It’s no surprise that we’re getting significant seizures of cocaine,” he said.

And while Lyon’s trailblazing time as the first woman to lead Chicago DEA is finished, she said the work continues.

“Yes, we have a law enforcement duty. Yes, we’re passionate about finding the bad guys and bringing them to justice, but we’re also mothers and fathers and partners and sisters and brothers and sons and daughters, and we have children that we want to see live in a healthy world and make better decisions. And I really do believe that in all my years with DEA, I’ve never seen us be so strong in marrying those two foundational pillars,” she said.

Lyon’s successor as special agent in charge of the Chicago DEA field office has not yet been named, but whoever it is will have cocaine on their radar.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime just reported production, seizures, and use of cocaine all hit new highs in the last few years.