‘Profiting from some of Seattle’s most vulnerable’: Federal Way man sentenced for role in drug ring targeting homeless people
Oct 1, 2026, 12:28 PM
Homeless people have overrun the Belltown neighborhood between Second and Third Avenue on Blanchard St. (Photo: Jason Rantz/KTTH)
(Photo: Jason Rantz/KTTH)
A 54-year-old Federal Way man was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that targeted homeless people in “The Jungle” under I-5 and the Chinatown International District.
In May 2025, Leonardo Rojas Cruz was indicted after a lengthy wiretap investigation in which it was revealed that he was a redistributor of cocaine and methamphetamine who ordered multiple-pound quantities of each drug, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
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On May 29, 2025, law enforcement carried out 16 search warrants in Federal Way, Everett, Pacific, Tukwila, Kent, Issaquah, Seattle, Woodlake, California, and Beaverton, Oregon.
Investigators seized more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms, and more than $353,000 in cash.
“In March 2025 alone, law enforcement seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin as they investigated this drug ring and a related one,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “The street value of those narcotics is nearly $3 million – but the damage to our community due to addiction, crime, and deaths far surpasses that number.”
The DOJ noted that Rojas Cruz is a Mexican national with a prior federal conviction for drug trafficking in Washington. In 1991, he was sentenced to more than five years in prison. Despite that, Rojas Cruz continued to traffic drugs for an extended period of time.
“Despite a prior drug trafficking conviction, Mr. Rojas Cruz chose to continue down a path leading to suffering and addiction for so many, purchasing kilogram quantities of controlled substances from his co-conspirators for resale to vulnerable populations,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office.
The following co-conspirators have already been sentenced:
- Daniel Ibarra Loera, 32, of Kent (96 months in prison)
- Jose Garcia Corona, 62, of Seattle (15 months in prison)
- Oscar Omar Serrano Serrano, 32, of Algona (30 months in prison)
- Juan Lopez Roblero, 44, of Tukwila (12 months in prison)
- Giovanni Antonio Garduno Garcia, 47, of Issaquah (72 months in prison)
- Sang Su, 44, of Seattle, is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 4
DOJ expects Rojas Cruz is likely to be deported following his prison term.
“Mr. Rojas Cruz pushed deadly poison into the Chinatown International District, profiting from some of Seattle’s most vulnerable living in ‘The Jungle’,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The fentanyl powder alone seized from this drug trafficking organization could have unleashed 1.7 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl into our community. Through Fentanyl Free America, DEA, along with our federal, state, and local partners, is disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing its availability, and saving American lives.”
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