Yakima, Wash. – Six people are in federal custody following the return of an indictment in the Eastern District of Washington alleging 20 criminal counts involving drug trafficking and firearms On April 22, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland...

SEATTLE, Wash.–The Drug Enforcement Administration, in coordination with more than 4,400 law enforcement partners across the country, will host the 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., offering communities across the United States a safe, convenient, and anonymous way to dispose...

PORTLAND, Oregon- The Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division today announced a multi-agency fentanyl enforcement operation resulting in dozens of arrests, and the seizure of drugs, firearms, and cash in Portland, Oregon. Honduran drug traffickers working for the Sinaloa Cartel infiltrated Portland flooding the area with deadly fentanyl and other...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Acting United States Attorney Richard Barker announced that United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Ricardo Cantu, age 26, to 108 months in prison on drug trafficking charges. Judge Dimke also imposed 4 years of supervised release. According to court documents and information provided at the...

BOISE – Michael Paul Lacasse, 48, and Venetia Dawn Trischan, 47, of Caldwell, were sentenced to 133 months and 96 months, respectively, in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. According to court records, in December 2023, law enforcement learned that Lacasse and Trischan were involved in...

Spokane, Washington – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial of Luis Esquivel-Bolanos (a/k/a “Colorado”), age 45, of Guerrero, Mexico. Esquivel-Bolanos was found guilty on multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice presided over Esquivel-Bolanos’s trial, which began April 14, 2025...

BOISE – Evan Nickolai Ernstson, 48, of Boise, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Ernstson to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his...

POCATELLO – Geoffrey W. Ancheta, 40, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court records, members of the BADGES Task Force stopped Ancheta and his co-defendant, Alme Otto, as they returned from a trip to Arizona on April...

BOISE – A large-scale Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation and prosecution resulted in the conviction of 11 Idaho defendants on federal drug trafficking charges, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. The investigation involved the cooperative efforts of 10 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies...

SEATTLE – A 37-year-old man who was living in a Des Moines, Washington, hotel, is charged federally with four counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and one count of money laundering announced...