United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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 Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Dennis Aguilar Huisa was placed under arrest twice last fall when he was found to have possession of fentanyl pills and/or powder, methamphetamine, cocaine and a firearm. Huisa has been in state custody since his final encounter with law enforcement on November 1, 2024.

According to the criminal complaint, Puyallup Police first contacted Huisa on the side of the road in the early hours of August 15, 2023. Huisa said his car had overheated and he and a passenger were waiting for the engine to cool down. The police officer noticed that the license plate on the car did not match the type of vehicle listed in the registration. Huisa was removed from the car while law enforcement determined whether the car or the license plates were stolen. A second officer noticed blue pills in the car. Ultimately the car was impounded. A search revealed about 1,000 fentanyl pills as well as some suspected fentanyl powder. There was also a scale with drug residue in the car.

On September 7, 2024, Puyallup Police responded to a report of a nine-month-old infant who had stopped breathing. Huisa and a woman met the officers outside a box truck the infant in their arms. Law enforcement worked to get the child to respond and breath, medics responded and continued to work on reviving the child.

The law enforcement investigation found evidence that Huisa and the child’s mother has given the infant two doses of Narcan suspecting that the child had been exposed to fentanyl or other drugs. Huisa gave permission to search the box truck. Law enforcement located approximately 115 blue fentanyl pills. On Huisa they found fentanyl powder and over $16,000 in cash.

The infant was taken to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. The child was given additional dose of Narcan, and the child’s blood tested positive for fentanyl, amphetamine, and oxycodone. The child survived and was temporarily released to Child Protective Services.

Finally, on November 1, 2024, Auburn Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit served a search warrant on the Des Moines motel where Huisa had been living. In the hotel room they found small packages of fentanyl powder packaged for sale in the toilet. They found additional fentanyl powder, methamphetamine, and cocaine in other places around the room. Officers once again searched the box truck Huisa had been driving and found two kilograms of fentanyl powder and a Polymer 80 ‘ghost gun’ – a gun made without a serial number.

Huisa was charged by criminal complaint on March 12, 2025, and was brought into federal custody on April 10, 2025. He was indicted by the grand jury on March 26, 2025, for four counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and money laundering. Huisa is making his initial appearance at 2:00 today.

Possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute is punishable by a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up to life in prison. Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is punishable by a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to life in prison to run consecutive to the other sentence imposed in the case. Money laundering is punishable by up to twenty years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint and the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Puyallup Police Department, the Auburn Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

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