4 Washington residents charged with drug trafficking conspiracy
Jan 13, 2026, 4:01 PM
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building. (Photo: Andrew Harnik, Getty Images)
(Photo: Andrew Harnik, Getty Images)
Federal Prosecutors said four western Washington residents have been charged with drug trafficking conspiracy after they tried to swap 20 pounds of cocaine for crystal meth and cash.
In September of last year, law enforcement found out about the deal to exchange the cocaine for 15 pounds of methamphetamine and $155,000, and officers intervened.
Prosecutors said the man who arranged the swap is a 29-year-old Mexican national who lives in Marysville. Officers said they found a “significant” number of firearms and ammunition at Luis Donaldo Galeana Garcia’s home. He’s been ordered detained.
Also charged are 33-year-old Juan Carlos Garnica Pacheco of Everett, and two Bellingham residents, 35-year-old Lorena Esquivel and 27-year-old Dustin Ray Binion.
The suspects face a minimum of ten years behind bars if convicted.
The arrests were the result of a Homeland Security Task Force initiative aimed at “eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad,” according to a statement from the US Department of Justice Western District of Washington.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, DEA, and FBI assisted in the case.
Read more of Heather Bosch’s stories here.
Follow @http://www.twitter.com/heatherbosch
