SEATTLE – The leader of a wide-ranging drug distribution network that was uncovered when law enforcement focused on Seattle’s International District and nearby homeless encampments was sentenced to ten years in prison on Wednesday. Octavio Salazar Palma, 34, of Federal Way, Washington was arrested in May 2025 following a lengthy...

SEATTLE – A 65-year-old national of the Dominican Republic, who was arrested in Colombia and extradited to the U.S., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 96 months in prison for conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to launder money, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage woman was sentenced today to 12 and a half years in prison for trafficking drugs and laundering tens of thousands of dollars in illegal drug proceeds. According to court documents, Mao “Molly” Lee, 37, possessed methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and cocaine with the intent to distribute...

SEATTLE – Marking a powerful start to 2026, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration dealt a significant blow to drug trafficking networks during Phase II of Operation Fentanyl Free America. Between January 12 and February 10, 2026, DEA seized more than 4.7 million fentanyl pills and nearly 2,396 pounds of fentanyl...

SPOKANE, Wash. – On March 3, 2026, the Drug Enforcement Administration executed federal search warrants at multiple locations in the Tri-Cities, Washington area that resulted in the largest seizure of controlled substances in EDWA history. The federal search warrants were based on an ongoing drug trafficking investigation into Amador Sanchez...

SPOKANE, Wash.– United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Kenneth H. Crause, age 55, to 204 months in federal prison after Crause pleaded guilty to Possession with Intent to Deliver 400 Grams or More of Fentanyl. Judge Dimke also ordered that, following his sentence, Crause be placed on a...