Local drug trafficking conspiracy with international ties unraveled after year-long investigation – KIRO 7 News Seattle

Lina PortmanJune 6, 2024

0 1 minute read

SEATTLE — The Justice Department says a drug-tracing conspiracy was unraveled after a yearlong wiretap investigation involving local and state law enforcement as well as law enforcement from Mexico and Columbia.

Law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search and arrest warrants and arrested four people.

The four people arrested are citizens of the United States, Mexico and Colombia who resided in Kent, Renton, Tukwila and Plainfield, New Jersey.

“This operation is a fantastic example of collaborative work between the Seattle Police Department, DEA, IRS and the Colombian National Police,” said Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr.

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“To the extent possible, we try to trace both the origin of the drugs and the money that goes to those who supply them,” said United States Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

A fifth person linked to the plot, a Mexican citizen who previously lived in Renton, is currently behind bars in a federal facility in California.

During the investigation, one of the defendants, Ramon Duarte Garcia, a Mexican citizen living in Kent, was arrested en route to the Pacific Northwest with 12 pounds of methamphetamine, a stolen firearm and cash.

In total, law enforcement seized 84,000 fentanyl pills, more than one kilogram of fentanyl powder, 32 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of methamphetamine, nearly three kilograms of heroin, nine firearms and $71,000 in cash.

“As a result of the money, this investigation was conducted in locations both near and far from home, allowing us to disrupt this large-scale drug trafficking chain from end to end,” said Special Agent in charge Adam Jobes, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office.

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