Renton resident who owned construction business sentenced to prison for role as ‘significant’ drug distributor

A man who lived in Renton for more than 20 years and owned a construction business was sentenced for his role as a “significant” drug distributor.

Manuel Garcia Hernandez, 41, will spend 7 years in prison for distributing pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Garcia Hernandez, a Mexican national who was living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested in June 2024 following a wiretap investigation into a drug trafficking organization importing methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine into the Seattle area from Mexico and Colombia.

When law enforcement searched his truck and home, they found heroin along with a loaded gun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and 12 mobile phones.

“This was an extremely serious, very significant drug conspiracy with national and international reach, exposing multiple communities to harm,” U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez said at the sentencing hearing.

The Homeland Security Task Force investigated the drug trafficking organization associated with Garcia Hernandez between 2020 and 2024. In total, authorities seized more than 32 kilograms of cocaine, 14 kilograms of methamphetamine, 83,000 fentanyl-laced pills, 3 kilograms of heroin, and 1 kilogram of fentanyl powder. Multiple guns were also seized.

Wiretaps revealed Renton resident cutting deals for pounds of meth and cocaine

Garcia Hernandez became a focus of the investigation during wiretaps conducted in 2023 that showed he was cutting deals for pound quantities of meth and cocaine and redistributing the drugs in western Washington. He also brokered a three-kilogram deal for controlled substances that were to be delivered in western Kentucky.

Garcia Hernandez pleaded guilty in May 2025 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

In asking for an 87-month sentence, prosecutors noted Garcia Hernandez kept dealing drugs even after he learned of the arrests of his coconspirators in Kentucky.

“Garcia Hernandez engaged in a sustained course of conduct that involved the distribution of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine in Washington and the planned distribution of heroin in Kentucky,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo. “That Garcia Hernandez continued to engage in drug trafficking activity notwithstanding the fact of the Kentucky [arrests] demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the law. The recommended sentence sends a clear message that continued armed drug trafficking — after law enforcement intervention ― will be met with the substantial sanction warranted by such conduct.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said Garcia Hernandez was previously convicted of crimes in Washington, including a 2022 DUI, but that sanctuary policies kept him from being turned over to federal immigration authorities.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Seattle Police Department. The Colombian National Police and Colombian Prosecutor’s Office partnered with U.S. law enforcement on this investigation, the attorney’s office noted.

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