Massive Puget Sound raid strikes blow to illegal drug market
Aug 7, 2015, 10:01 AM | Updated: 1:31 pm
It came down to 36 hours. After a year and a half of investigating, it took less than two days for officers throughout the Puget Sound to take down 17 people with suspected ties to a major criminal organization pumping drugs into the region’s illegal market.
“This investigation is a great example of law enforcement collaboration,” said Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole. “The Seattle Police Department will continue to work closely with our federal, state and local partners to eliminate the flow of deadly drugs, such as heroin and methamphetamine to our region.”
In the end, 17 people were arrested, and 29 pounds of meth, 18 pounds of heroin, 6 pounds of cocaine, 16 firearms — including five assault rifles — and nearly $178,000 in cash were collected by law enforcement.
Detectives with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Seattle Police Department spent months watching suspects and operating wire taps of their phones, building a case against a regional criminal group.
On Aug. 5, officers served search warrants to 17 residences, three storage facilities and at least 12 vehicles in Auburn, Bellevue, SeaTac, Seattle, Tukwila, Renton, Kent, Port Orchard, and Everett, making 17 arrests, which eventually led to charges against 22 suspect. All have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, and some for conspiracy to launder money, after their initial court appearances Aug. 6.
A Sept. 28 trial has been scheduled for U.S. District Court in Seattle.
