Seven people — including four from western Washington — were arrested and indicted in connection to an investigation that began with a drug trafficking ring in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Nick Brown announced Friday.
Two more western Washington residents who were named in a separate indictment in Pittsburgh were also arrested in the Seattle area.
According to court records, one of the drug ring’s key members — 25-year-old Bryce “Benji” Hill — was arrested in Seattle on Jan. 11.
Hill was charged in the Western District of Pennsylvania with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The investigation in Pittsburgh started in 2018.
Records state that Hill was identified as a key distributor of drugs in the Seattle area, and that he or his associates would travel between Arizona and Seattle making drug transactions and bringing proceeds to conspirators in Phoenix, Arizona.
Investigators served search warrants on Seattle-area residences associated with Hill and seized five guns, including assault-style weapons and guns with extended clips. Hill is prohibited from possessing firearms due to prior convictions.
At Hill’s apartment in Seattle, officials seized around 27 kilograms of fentanyl pills, which were still in suitcases after having traveled from Arizona. Law enforcement also seized $387,000 in cash.
Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer oversees Homeland Security Investigations operations in the Pacific Northwest. He said that during one of the arrests in the Seattle area, a suspect threw a suitcase filled with fentanyl pills out a window.
“One of these suitcases came flying out of the window and onto the street because they have so many of these suitcases of fentanyl that they have brought into the region,” Hammer said.
On Thursday alone, in connection with the arrests in the Seattle area, law enforcement officials seized seven more guns, around $500,000 in cash, and more drugs.
“Cartel activity of this nature is of particular concern to HSI, and we continue to prioritize investigations into individuals and organizations that illicitly introduce deadly fentanyl and firearms into our communities,” said Hammer. “This national operation has brought 90 individuals to justice, taken a large amount of guns off of our streets, and serves as a message to other fentanyl trafficking organizations that we will not stop.”
Four western Washington residents were arrested and indicted for their alleged connection to Hill’s distribution ring:
- Cierra Ward, 21, of Kent
- Jaren Tran, 43, of Seattle
- Shaunyae Allen, 37, of Oak Harbor
- Jose Cortes, 34, of Marysville
Two others were arrested on an indictment from the Western District of Pennsylvania:
- Alicia Parks, 25, of Kent
- Mohamed Kariye, 34, of Kent
“This investigation shows how drug trafficking rings interact across the country – drugs coming into Arizona are then transferred to distributors as geographically distinct as Seattle and Pittsburgh,” said Brown. “Prosecutors and law enforcement here have worked cooperatively to arrest and prosecute the key players responsible for hundreds of thousands of potentially deadly doses.”
“This organization sold their illicit narcotics throughout the U.S., from the Southwest border to the Pacific Northwest and all the way to the East Coast,” said Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Seattle Field Division. “Our federal partnerships once again have proven invaluable in defeating these organizations and holding their members accountable.”
Hammer believes people see the impact the cartel truly has in the Emerald City every single day.
“These are the organizations that are flooding the fentanyl into our communities, that are enabling this pain and suffering,” Hammer said.
And while these arrests are a step in the right direction when it comes to the opioid epidemic, many believe there is still a long way to go.
“It is truly going to take a village if we are going to combat this crisis,” Hammer said.