DEA: Drug seizures contained enough fentanyl to kill Seattle’s population twice over.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

Federal and local law enforcement agencies have dismantled a massive drug trafficking organization operating out of homeless encampments and the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, indicting 14 individuals in what officials call one of the most significant narcotics takedowns in regional history. Investigators said the amount of fentanyl seized was enough to fatally overdose Seattle’s population twice.

The arrests, carried out in May 2025 across Washington, Oregon, and Southern California, followed a sweeping investigation into a network accused of distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. According to Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller, the operation builds on an earlier phase from January that led to five indictments. “Now we are prosecuting fourteen additional defendants,” she said. “Law enforcement partners continued to pursue drug traffickers… to address the importation of substances like fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine into western Washington generally and the International District in particular.”

The organization exploited the homeless and addicted in South Seattle, according to Seattle Police Chief Shon F. Barnes. “For years, this criminal organization preyed on the homeless and drug addicted,” Barnes said. “They terrorized people living and working in the Chinatown-International District and South Seattle. I am proud of the work our detectives and federal partners have done to put these criminals behind bars where they belong.”

The investigation began in November 2023 and intensified in March 2025, when authorities seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilograms of cocaine, 19 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and 4 kilograms of heroin—narcotics valued at roughly $3 million. The May 29 raids yielded an additional 7 kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms, and $353,000 in cash. The volume of fentanyl seized could have produced enough lethal doses to kill the population of Seattle twice, officials said.

“These traffickers didn’t just operate locally,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington. “They made frequent trips into Oregon and California. We are now reaching sources of supply, further stopping these poisons—and the violence that accompanies them—from reaching our communities.”

The enforcement action was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, a federal initiative that coordinates intelligence-driven investigations targeting high-level criminal enterprises. Participating agencies included the DEA, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Seattle Police Department, Washington National Guard Counterdrug Program, Oregon State Police, and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

“This trafficking group was a major supplier of deadly drugs to the International District and other communities throughout the Seattle area,” said DEA Seattle Field Division Special Agent in Charge David F. Reames. “The fentanyl powder and pills our team seized in this case could have yielded enough lethal doses to kill everyone in Seattle twice.”

The 14 defendants face a range of charges, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Those indicted in the first group—accused of distributing cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin—include:

• Octavio Salazar Palma (33, Federal Way)

• Luis Soto Lara (47, Vancouver)

• Juan Ramirez Recinos (41, Burien) – wanted

• German Juarez-Otanez (34, Bothell) – wanted

• Alexander Emilio Cozza (42, Seattle)

• Marco Antonio Bobadilla (33, Pacific)

• Isai Gamboa Pacheco (55, Everett)

A second indictment includes the following individuals allegedly involved in cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking:

• Daniel Ibarra Loera (31, Kent)

• Jose Garcia Corona (61, Seattle)

• Leonardo Rojas Cruz (53, Federal Way)

• Oscar Omar Serrano Serrano (31, Algona)

• Juan Lopez Roblero (43, Tukwila)

• Giovanni Antonio Garduno Garcia (46, Issaquah)

• Sang Su (44, Seattle) – wanted

According to court documents cited by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, many of the accused are in the country illegally. Luis Soto Lara was deported and reentered illegally on multiple occasions between 2007 and 2014. Jose Garcia Corona was removed from the U.S. in 2001 and later charged in 2009 with fraud and visa misuse. Juan Lopez Roblero was deported in 2006 and 2013, with additional violations in 2011.

Marco Antonio Bobadilla Gonzalez and Isai Gamboa Pacheco reportedly lack verified community ties or legal employment, while Giovanni Antonio Garduno Garcia allegedly entered the U.S. under a false claim of citizenship.

“Illegal drug trafficking devastates lives and affects us all,” said Acting Special Agent Carrie Nordyke of IRS-Criminal Investigation. “Together, we will push back and continue to make a positive, felt impact for all our friends and neighbors.”

If convicted, many of the defendants face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years in federal prison. Authorities continue to search for multiple suspects still at large.