DEA Archived Press Releases

Press Releases before January 20, 2025
19 Results - Showing 1 to 10
PRESS RELEASE

Five Indicted for Drug Trafficking in “The Jungle” and Seattle’s International District

SEATTLE – Five Seattle-area men are in custody following a grand jury indictment for their drug trafficking activity in Seattle’s homeless encampments and International District, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The men are charged federally and have made their initial appearances over the last few days. “We are all...
PRESS RELEASE

Mexican National Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison on Drug Charges

BOISE – Efren Alexander Aviles-Pacheco, 29, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, illegally living in Ontario, Oregon, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Aviles-Pacheco to serve 10...
PRESS RELEASE

Thurston County Man Caught Twice with Drugs and Firearms Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

Seattle – A 53-year-old resident of Rochester, Washington was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 7 years in prison for two federal felonies related to his armed drug trafficking activity. Waylan Graves was arrested twice in a four-month period in 2023, each time with distribution amounts of dangerous...
PRESS RELEASE

Fourteen Indicted in Multi-State Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Linked to Deadly Fentanyl Distributed to Members of the Lummi Nation in Washington

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...
PRESS RELEASE

Final Defendant Arrested in 41-Person Drug Trafficking Scheme Enters Guilty Plea

SEATTLE, Wash. – The final defendant of 41 arrested in an extensive drug trafficking investigation, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and unlawfully possessing a firearm. Kendle Rashen Hawkins, 34, of Goodyear, Arizona, will be sentenced by U.S. District...
PRESS RELEASE

Man Caught with Nearly 100,000 Fentanyl Pills and Five Firearms Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison

TACOMA, Wash. – A 25-year-old Puyallup man, who also maintained an apartment in Seattle, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 78 months in prison for drug trafficking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Emmanuel Xaiver...
PRESS RELEASE

Central Oregon Drug Trafficker Sentenced to Federal Prison

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Central Oregon drug trafficker who conspired with others to traffic fentanyl and methamphetamine to Madras and Redmond, Oregon, and surrounding areas, was sentenced to federal prison today. Israel Sarabia, 30, of Culver, Oregon, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. According to...
PRESS RELEASE

Bellingham, Washington, Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Dealing Fentanyl While Carrying Firearms

SEATTLE– A 42-year-old Bellingham, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for drug distribution and illegal firearms possession announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Adam Wisniewski is the fifth and final defendant to be sentenced in a case involving fentanyl distribution...
PRESS RELEASE

Member of Skagit and Whatcom Drug Distribution Ring Sentenced to Prison

SEATTLE, Wash. – A 38-year-old resident of Maple Falls, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to six years in prison for his role in distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Jesse Witteveen was arrested November 1, 2022, when he fled at high...
PRESS RELEASE

Anchorage Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison Following Drug, Firearm Conviction

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison, subsequent to his conviction by a federal jury of one count of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and one count of felon...