Third major Puget Sound drug bust in six weeks results in 14 more arrests

Another major Puget Sound drug bust this summer has resulted in 14 new arrests.

The third drug bust in six weeks, Tuesday’s police action yielded 36 pounds of meth, a pound of heroin, more than 1,600 suspected fentanyl pills, and seven firearms.

The series of drug takedowns is the result of collaboration between federal investigators and dozens of local law enforcement agencies, from Skagit County to Tacoma and over to the Olympic Peninsula.

“I want to take a moment to recognize the courageous women and men, the officers, the detectives, and the special agents who were out there doing the dangerous work of developing these complex cases to stop violent criminal organizations,” said Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla. “They put themselves in the company of violent, dangerous criminals who have little regard for life, and they do so because they place the value of protecting our communities and our children above their own personal safety.”

Seattle police seize 2,700 pills laced with fentanyl 

In total, more than 60 cartel members have been arrested this summer, some of whom could face more than 10 years in prison. More than 350 pounds of meth, 85 pounds of heroin, nearly 40 firearms, and more than 40,000 fentanyl pills have been seized.

Padilla said the arrests put a significant dent in Puget Sound drug rings that engage in violent actions from Bellingham to the South Sound.

“Violent criminal organizations still exist in our communities, and they’re not just in big cities — they’re in the suburbs, they’re in the small cities and small towns,” Padilla said. “And they bring death and destruction everywhere they go.”

However, investigators also warned that there are always new cartel members coming in to take the place of those arrested, so the work is far from over.

“As long as there is a demand for it, you’ll have traffickers trying to replace the group that we affected today and over the last several weeks,” said Keith Weis, special agent in charge for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Seattle office. “But hopefully we’re a couple steps ahead of them, we’re already into the next group. So it’s a continual cat-and-mouse game against the narcotics traffickers, but we’re well on our way to identifying the next group.”

Police say these arrests prevent deadly fentanyl pills disguised as other drugs from getting into the hands of local teens and killing them through overdoses, as has occurred time and time again throughout the region. A synthetic opioid, fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin; pills sold on the street are commonly laced with fentanyl because it is cheaper to produce than other drugs.

“How many parents have been spared the trauma of burying their child?” said interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz. “We’ve lost too many who have had their whole world ahead of them, which is why we are eager to collaborate with our federal and local law enforcement partners to put people preying on our community behind bars.”

The 14 people arrested Tuesday appeared later that day in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.

“These arrests are important because they help to cripple the drug cartels that are peddling poison in our community,” King County Sheriff’s Office Captain Troy Smithmeyer said.

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