United States Drug Enforcement Administration

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 wire-tap investigation. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “You were a leader in the drug conspiracy, you were the source of an extraordinary amount of drugs in our community…. Despite multiple seizures by law enforcement you did not stop, only the arrest made you stop.”

“Mr. Salazar Palma led the drug trafficking organization that targeted some of Seattle’s most vulnerable, living in encampments in ‘The Jungle’, while he bought expensive cars and jewelry with the profits,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Today’s sentence and the seizure of massive amounts of fentanyl, meth, and cocaine demonstrate DEA’s commitment to dismantling these criminal networks along with our federal, state, and local partners. Through our Fentanyl Free America, we are disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing its availability, and protecting American lives.”

“This case began with officers on the street working their way up the supply chain until prosecutors had enough evidence to get a court approved wiretap,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “The wiretap allowed us to identify the leaders, and more importantly, interdict drug shipments before they hit our streets. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is keenly aware of the law enforcement problems facing the International District and is committed to doing all we can to address them.”

“Led by his own greed, Mr. Salazar Palma piloted an interstate conspiracy to distribute obscene and lethal amounts of dangerous drugs through the International District and homeless encampments in Seattle. No amount of profit can justify the cost of putting members of our own community at such a risk,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “I am thankful for the diligence and hard work of FBI Seattle and our partners as we remain dedicated to disrupting violent crime and making our streets a safer place.”

In this investigation in March 2025 alone, law enforcement seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin. The street value of the narcotics was nearly $3 million. 

On May 29, 2025, law enforcement moved to take down Salazar Palma’s network. They executed 16 search warrants in Federal Way, Vancouver, Everett, Pacific, Tukwila, Kent, Issaquah, Seattle, Woodlake California and Beaverton, Oregon.  Investigators seized more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, and 17 firearms. They also seized more than $353,000 in cash.

On April 15, 2026, Salazar Palma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

In asking for a sentence of 140 months prosecutors wrote to the court, “… Salazar Palma engaged in drug trafficking not to support an addiction to controlled substances, but for his personal profit. And profit he did. When investigators searched his residence, they found nearly $20,000 in United States currency, which Salazar Palma admits were proceeds of his drug trafficking enterprise. Salazar Palma is also agreeing to forfeit a 2024 BMW M3 Competition xDrive, a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe LT, and jewelry, because that property was proceeds of his enterprise.”

“Our streets are safer today as Mr. Salazar Palma faces the consequences of his crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Carrie Nordyke, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. “Illicit drugs have no place in our communities, and IRS-CI is committed to bringing those who choose to harm our friends and neighbors to justice.”

Salazar Palma is a U.S. citizen who will be on four years of supervised release following prison.

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 FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Seattle Police Department with significant assistance from the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program (HIDTA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Washington National Guard Counterdrug Program. Investigators also worked with the Oregon State Police and Clark County, Washington Sheriff’s Office.

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