SW Washington Man Who Operated Shingle Mill As Cover For Drug Dealing Gets Ten Year Prison Term
SEATTLE - A former Amanda Park, Washington resident who operated a shingle mill as a cover for distributing methamphetamine was sentenced today to ten years in prison. Jose Naur Sanchez, 35, was arrested in June 2012, following a lengthy investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Sanchez pleaded guilty in March 2013.
According to records filed in the case, in May 2012 Israel Magana Espinoza and Cristian Calles were arrested after law enforcement seized six kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a spare tire of their car. The men were tracked to a drug lab in Stockton, California, and were arrested by police on their return trip to Washington. When law enforcement raided the Stockton drug lab they seized more than 66 pounds of crystal meth, 88 pounds of liquid slush methamphetamine and disassembled assault rifles packaged for transport to Mexico.
On June 13, 2012, six federal search warrants were executed and seven subjects were arrested in Grays Harbor County. Agents seized liquid methamphetamine that was similar to the liquid methamphetamine seized at the methamphetamine conversion lab in Stockton, California.
Agents also seized several firearms and nearly three pounds of black tar heroin. When Sanchez was arrested, investigators found four pounds of methamphetamine in a car associated with him. The methamphetamine was wrapped in cellophane and coated with grease in an attempt to hide it from police.
In asking for significant prison time, prosecutors noted that although Sanchez had been deported following his fourth drug conviction and a three year prison sentence, he returned to the United States and became involved in this drug conspiracy.
This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved.Multiple local and federal law enforcement officers were involved in this DEA led investigation: Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement (TNET), Grays Harbor Drug Task (composed of the Hoquiam and Aberdeen Police Department and the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Department), Lakewood Police Department, Quinault Nation Narcotics Enforcement Team, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and FBI. Additionally, these agencies contributed: DEA Special Operations Division, DEA Modesto, Sacramento and Stanislaus, Clark-Vancouver Regional Drug Task Force, Homeland Security (HSI), Bureau of Indian (BIA), Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Centralia Police Department and Customs and Border Patrol.
