Community safety – Twin threats of firearms and fentanyl

Some of the blue fentanyl pills seized in the district.

From Report to the Community

By U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman

Dept of Justice - Western Washington District

Federal law enforcement works tirelessly to stem the flow of potentially deadly fentanyl pills into Western Washington. 

The Western District of Washington filed 63 drug prosecutions in 2023, involving some 135 defendants. 

That is 14% more drug cases and a 27% increase in drug defendants over last year. 

Our cases focus on cartel connected organizations, violent drug dealers, and those having a dramatic impact on our communities.

Fentanyl pills

The Criminal Enterprises Unit leads investigations of organized drug trafficking groups. 

Whether the traffickers are operating in the urban core or in our rural communities, law enforcement makes stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl a top priority. 

Some of those trafficking these drugs have clear connections to Mexico based cartels such as CJNG – a group known for its violence. 

Two leaders of that drug trafficking organization were sentenced to 17 and 12 years in prison.

The influx of fentanyl tainted pills into Western Washington continues to wreak havoc on our communities with fentanyl overdose deaths at an all-time high in King county.

Some of the firearms seized in a raid

In March 2023, we indicted 24 people connected to a white supremacist prison gang for trafficking fentanyl, meth, and other drugs. 

Law enforcement seized nearly 2 million doses of fentanyl and more than 225 firearms – some shown at left.

As part of our commitment to public safety and interdicting gun crime, federal prosecutors joined with the Seattle Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration to prosecute those who were dealing drugs in key downtown Seattle hot spots while carrying firearms. 

Our Terrorism and Violent Crime Unit prosecuted nine people who were selling narcotics – primarily fentanyl pills (such as those at right) -- at 12th and Jackson (Chinatown/International District) and at 3rd and Pike/Pine. 

These vibrant parts of Seattle have become a magnet for crime with open air drug dealing. Ongoing efforts by the city and federal partners are aimed at returning a sense of safety to these sections of the city. In one of the cases we prosecuted from this effort, an armed drug dealer from the downtown area was sentenced to five years in prison.