United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Seattle – A 41- year-old Renton, Washington resident, illegally present in the U.S. was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 84 months in prison for his role as a significant drug distributor to both Western Washington and Western Kentucky. Manuel Garcia Hernandez, was arrested in June 2024, following a wiretap investigation of a drug trafficking organization importing methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine into the Seattle area from Mexico and Colombia.  When law enforcement searched his truck and residence, they found heroin as well as a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and 12 mobile phones. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said, “This was an extremely serious, very significant drug conspiracy with national and international reach, exposing multiple communities to harm.” 

“This investigation dismantled a drug trafficking operation responsible for distributing dangerous narcotics across in Western Washington by tracking the source of supply all the way back to the jungles of Colombia,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Rob Saccone, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Working alongside our federal, state, local, and international partners, DEA remains committed to targeting the criminal organizations that peddle poison, drive addiction, and threaten public safety. This work is central to DEA’s commitment to a Fentanyl-Free America by reducing the availability of synthetic opioids, saving lives, and protecting our communities.”

“This case highlights the problems with sanctuary policies. Those in favor of these policies see a man who lived in the community for 20 years, owned a construction business, and has a family.  In reality, this defendant entered the United States illegally and willfully participated in the destruction of other families by spreading meth, heroin and cocaine in our community,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd.  “He was previously convicted of crimes in Washington including a 2022 DUI, but sanctuary policies kept him from being turned over to federal immigration authorities.  It is a disturbing reality that in Washington State it takes a federal felony conviction to finally get him removed from the U.S. following his term in prison.”

According to records filed in the case, between 2020 and 2024, the Homeland Security Task Force began investigation of a drug trafficking organization bringing drugs into the U.S. from Mexico and Colombia. In all the investigation resulted in seizures of more than 32 kilograms of cocaine, 14 kilograms of methamphetamine, 83,000 fentanyl-laced pills, 3 kilograms of heroin, and 1 kilogram of fentanyl powder. Multiple firearms were seized including one at Garcia Hernandez’ home.

Garcia Hernandez became a focus of investigation during wiretaps conducted in late 2023 that showed he was cutting deals for pound quantities of meth and cocaine. During the same time that Garcia Hernandez was redistributing these drugs in the Western District of Washington, he also brokered a three-kilogram deal for controlled substances that were to be delivered in the Western District of Kentucky. He was arrested in June 2024, and in May 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

In asking for an 87-month prison sentence prosecutors wrote to the court that Garcia Hernandez had kept drug dealing even after he learned of arrests of coconspirators in Kentucky. “Garcia Hernandez engaged in a sustained course of conduct that involved the distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine in Washington and the planned distribution of heroin in Kentucky… That Garcia Hernandez continued to engage in drug trafficking activity notwithstanding the fact of the Kentucky (arrests) demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the law. The recommended sentence sends a clear message that continued armed drug trafficking—after law enforcement intervention―will be met with the substantial sanction warranted by such conduct,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Seattle comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. 

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Seattle Police Department.

The Colombian National Police (CNP) and Colombian Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalia General) partnered with U.S. law enforcement on this investigation. The Justice Department’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá provided critical assistance.