United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SEATTLE – Law enforcement fanned out across the country and in western Washington yesterday arresting 17 people on indictments and criminal complaints for a multi- state drug trafficking conspiracy. The two-year investigation alleges that the trafficking ring has been linked to a fatal fentanyl overdose on the Lummi Nation reservation...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska announced today that 54 people have been charged through nine indictments in connection with a large-scale organized crime ring operating within the state of Alaska. U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska, Assistant Special Agent...

SEATTLE, Wash.– Today, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a year-long national operation, “Operation Last Mile,” targeting operatives, associates, and distributors affiliated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels responsible for the last mile of fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution on our streets and on social media. DEA’s top...

TACOMA, Wash. – Twenty-seven people were indicted by a grand jury for drug trafficking, and many of those in the indictment are tied to the “Aryan Family,” a white supremacist prison gang, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Twenty-four of the defendants have been arrested over the last five days in...

Seattle – The leader of a violent, prolific drug trafficking ring was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering and...

SEATTLE – Three significant drug trafficking groups responsible for trafficking more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills are facing federal charges tonight. Federal investigators and local law enforcement partners seized two RVs packed with meth and fake pills after they were driven from California...

Seattle – A father and son who ran a multimillion-dollar illegal marijuana business in Monroe, Washington, were each sentenced to five-year prison terms today, on drug and money laundering charges. Kenneth Warren Rhule, 28, was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and laundering...

PORTLAND, Ore.—12 people are facing federal charges for conspiring to distribute counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl in the Pacific Northwest, and laundering millions in drug proceeds. According to court documents, beginning in fall 2021, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents based in Portland began investigating a drug trafficking organization led...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court, a federal jury convicted an Anchorage man on charges of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise, using a firearm to commit murder in a drug trafficking crime, drug conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. According to court documents...

Seattle – Three men who were convicted at trial in August 2021, of multiple federal felonies for distributing fentanyl pills in Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. The leader of the drug ring, Bradley Woolard, 41, of Arlington, was sentenced...