Auburn man arrested and charged with possession of 135 pounds of MDMA, among other drugs and weapons

An Auburn man was arrested Tuesday evening in connection with a federal criminal complaint involving possession of multiple firearms and large quantities of drugs for distribution.

Andy Peter Vongdala, 33, was initially a suspect in a series of burglaries in Renton. The Renton Police Department (RPD), with the assistance of King County prosecutors, obtained a search warrant for Vongdala's residence to search for distinctive clothing items identified during the burglary investigation.

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“When police executed the search warrant, they encountered Vongdala leaving her two-bedroom apartment,” U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said in a prepared statement. “In a backpack he was carrying, police found a stolen Glock firearm and more than two kilos of MDMA. Some medications were in smaller bags inside a larger zipper bag labeled “sample.”

Police recovered more than 2,300 fentanyl pills, 61 kilograms of MDMA (equivalent to 134.5 pounds) and nearly a kilogram of methamphetamine when they searched his residence using the search warrant. Smaller amounts of suspected heroin, cocaine and alprazolam were also found, along with more guns, gun parts, ammunition and body armor.

Law enforcement seized what they suspected were armor-piercing bullets, as well as firearm magazines, extended magazines, drum magazines and a rifle with a case catcher. A shell catcher is a device attached to the rifle that prevents shell casings from remaining on the ground after the weapon is fired.

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“Due to the amount of drugs seized in this case, penalties include a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison,” Gorman said. “Possession of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense is punishable by an additional five years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed in this case.”

Vongdala is charged with two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and email him here.