First defendant in Homeland Security Taskforce Investigation of gun and drug trafficking organization sentenced to five years in prison

Seattle - A 36-year-old Mexican national, who was tending a drug stash house in Everett and making drug deliveries for a large drug trafficking organization, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Sylvestre Ramos was arrested October 28, 2025, following a year-long investigation. Ramos was arrested at an Everett, Washington, stash house with more than eight kilograms of fentanyl and a pellet gun. At today's sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Jamal S. Whitehead imposed four years of supervised release to follow prison. However, Ramos will likely be removed to Mexico following his prison term.

"The arrest operation in this case took more than 100,000 fentanyl pills, and 34 kilos of fentanyl powder off the street," said Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. "This defendant was illegally in the U.S. guarding and distributing a staggering amount of deadly drugs. This prison sentence and removal from the U.S. are fully appropriate sanctions."

"Drug trafficking organizations depend on individuals like Mr. Ramos to safeguard their drug supplies and keep deadly narcotics moving into our communities," said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. "The defendant's role in protecting a stash house containing millions of potentially lethal doses of fentanyl demonstrates the dangerous scale of the operation. This Homeland Security Task Force investigation is an example of what can be accomplished when federal, state, and local law enforcement work together. Through Fentanyl Free America, DEA, along with our partners, is disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing its availability, and saving American lives."

Ramos was arrested at the stash house but also had been photographed making drug deliveries. On June 12, 2025, Ramos delivered two pounds of methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement.

In addition to the 34 kilos of fentanyl on the day of the takedown, law enforcement also seized 3.7 kilos of methamphetamine, nearly a kilogram of heroin and 8.7 kilos of cocaine. Further demonstrating the scale of the distribution operation, law enforcement also seized over $140,000 in cash drug proceeds at the time of takedown.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Seattle comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

This investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in partnership with Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Seattle Police Department, the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, and the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (NW HIDTA).

These agencies assisted in the law enforcement operation on October 28, 2025: Seattle Police Department, North Sound Metro, Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, Washington State Patrol, Centralia Police Department, U.S Customs & Border Protection, the King County Sheriff's Office and Valley SWAT comprised of officers from the Renton, Federal Way, Kent, Auburn, Tukwila, Des Moines and Port of Seattle police departments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys C. Andrew Colasurdo and Joe Silvio.