SEATTLE — A 46-year-old Seattle man was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring that distributed cocaine and fentanyl in homeless encampments and the Chinatown-International District, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin handed down the sentence Wednesday to Sang Su in U.S. District Court in Seattle and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
The sentencing stems from a joint narcotics investigation launched in 2023 by the FBI and the Seattle Police Department following drug-related violence in encampments and the greenbelt along Interstate 5, known as the “Jungle.”
Su pleaded guilty on July 2, 2026, to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest on Aug. 18, 2025.
During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Lin addressed Su regarding the impact of his drug distribution on local residents.
“It is aggravating that you were selling significant amounts of cocaine and fentanyl to some of the most marginalized members of our community,” Lin said.
They say investigators first made contact with Su in October 2024 after he purchased drugs at a market on Beacon Hill in Seattle. Officers stopped Su’s vehicle and seized narcotics along with a firearm. Federal investigators say they also recorded Su on a wiretap discussing cocaine distribution and acquiring samples of fentanyl powder.
On May 29, 2025, law enforcement officers executed 16 search warrants across Federal Way, Vancouver, Everett, Pacific, Tukwila, Kent, Issaquah and Seattle, as well as Woodlake, Calif., and Beaverton, Ore. During those searches, agents seized more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms and more than $353,000 in cash. Su was not arrested during the May 2025 operation and remained sought by law enforcement until his arrest three months later.
Federal prosecutors say they requested a 30-month prison sentence for Su, noting that he had recorded numerous law enforcement contacts between 2002 and 2025, including arrests for assault, drug violations, and carrying loaded firearms that were either dismissed or not formally filed.
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