04/24/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2025 10:31
Yakima, Washington - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington announced today that six people are in federal custody following the return of an indictment alleging 20 criminal counts involving drug trafficking and firearms.
On April 22, 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations, and the Moses Lake Police Department executed a number of federal search warrants at several locations, seizing nine firearms. The guns were seized as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation into a drug trafficking network operating in Eastern Washington.
According to unsealed charging documents, the following individuals have been charged in connection to the investigation. In addition, the names of others indicted in connection with this investigation will be unsealed upon the arrest of those individuals.
The individuals were arraigned at the Yakima Federal Courthouse on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Moses Lake Police Department investigated this case. Additional assistance was provided by the Yakima Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Indians Affairs. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin D. Seal.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
1:25-CR-2049-SAB