Seattle – Over the last three weeks, federal, state and local law enforcement have been working to dismantle a Sinaloa Cartel-connected drug trafficking ring distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin throughout western Washington, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. The drug traffickers transported narcotics from Mexico, via California, sometimes...

SPOKANE, Wash.– Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Van Marter announced that Luis Esquivel-Bolanos (a/k/a “Colorado”), age 45, of Guerrero, Mexico was sentenced on multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. Esquivel-Bolanos was found guilty on April 16, 2025, following a jury trial. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Esquivel-Bolanos...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A U.S. citizen deeply enmeshed in an international drug smuggling conspiracy was sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison. Just over a year ago, law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24...

Seattle – Fourteen people were indicted in late May and eleven were taken into custody in coordinated arrests last week as part of an ongoing investigation of drug traffickers with ties to drug trafficking in Seattle’s International District and homeless encampments, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. The defendants...

Tacoma – A major redistributor for a South Sound-based drug trafficking ring that was connected to Aryan prison gangs was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 126 months in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. 46-year-old Joseph Hempel, of Burien, Washington, was a high-volume drug...

TACOMA, Wash. – A 32-year-old Renton, Washington resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 13 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring connected to Aryan prison gangs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Shawn Ellis was arrested in March 2023, when...

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...

SEATTLE – Law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search or arrest warrants taking four people into custody who are allegedly connected to a drug trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The drug conspirators have ties to...

Seattle – A 42-year-old Monroe, Washington resident was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle of Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances following a week-long jury trial, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Humberto Garcia was arrested in December 2020 with seven other defendants tied to a drug trafficking ring...

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...