Three of the four suspected drug smugglers were detained in Washington. They have ties to gangs in Colombia and Mexico.
The DEA, IRS, and Seattle all conducted wiretap investigations over the course of a year, which led to the arrests. Four males were taken into custody.
Ramon Garcia, age 37, from Kent; Curtis McDaniel, age 55, from Tukwila; Manuel Hernandez, age 39, from Renton; and Jose Luis Villafañe Osorio, age 35, from Plainfield, New Jersey, were all taken into custody by the police.
Humberto Rodriguez, a 30-year-old resident of Renton, was identified as the fifth individual involved in this drug scheme and is incarcerated in California.
With purported links to a Mexican cartel, Garcia, Rodriguez, and Hernandez are Mexican nationals residing in the United States. Prosecutors claim that Osorio, a citizen of Colombia, was the drug manufacturer.
McDaniel, a citizen of the United States, is charged with drug trafficking in the country.
“Following the money has taken this investigation to places both close and far from home, allowing us to disrupt this large-scale drug trafficking chain from end-to-end,” IRS Seattle’s Special Agent in Charge, Adam Jobes stated. “Teamwork and collaboration are indispensable to investigations this far-reaching, and we are proud to be working with some of the most dedicated law enforcement partners here in the U.S. as well as internationally. We are committed to keeping our communities safe from the scourge of illicit drugs, no matter where these investigations may take us.”
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Garcia was apprehended by authorities in the Pacific Northwest, where he was found in possession of a stolen handgun, ten thousand dollars in narcotics trafficking earnings, and twelve pounds of methamphetamine.
Agents found around three kilos of heroin, eight4,000 fentanyl pills, over a kilogram of fentanyl powder, 32 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of meth, nine guns, including an assault rifle, and $71,000 in narcotics money during their investigation.
“This cooperative effort is a win for the good guys and a tremendous example of the truly international cooperation needed to tackle this immense threat,” DEA Special Agent in Charge, David F. Reames stated. “I appreciate the extensive cooperation between the DEA, Seattle Police Department, Internal Revenue Service, and the Colombian National Police to create a top-to-bottom success by indicting Mexican cartel members, Colombian drug producers, and American distributors.”
