PUYALLUP, Wash. — A massive drug operation, resulting in 12 people taken into custody, was taken down by the FBI and the Seattle police on Wednesday morning.
While law enforcement, led by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, served 19 warrants in multiple locations, one suspect was shot and wounded in Puyallup, the Seattle Police Department confirmed.
Warrants were served in connection with a long investigation involving drug dealing and illegal weapons possession, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington confirmed.
One of the locations was at a duplex in the 1000 block of Seventh Avenue Southeast in Puyallup.
The FBI and Seattle police said they surrounded the duplex at around 3 a.m. And after announcing themselves, the law enforcement task force went inside.
“The suspect came down the stairs, and an SPD officer opened fire, hitting the suspect in the pelves. Two guns were recovered near the suspect,” Seattle Police Department Chief Adrian Diaz said.
The suspect was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No officers were hurt.
As for the officer who shot the man, he was placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation commences.
“It resulted in the seizure of a significant amount of drugs, cocaine, crack-cocaine, methamphetamine and, in some ways most importantly, large amounts of fentanyl,” said Vince Lombardi, a supervisor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Western Washington.
KIRO 7 saw a photo of 50,000 fentanyl-tainted pills that were seized in the operation.
“A lot of it is coming from Mexico, but it is various sources, not just one,” said Donald Voiret, FBI special agent in charge of the Seattle Field Office.
In 2019, Lucas Beirer, a junior at Skyline High School in Sammamish died of a fentanyl overdose. The 16-year-old took what he thought was Percocet.
It was found to contain a deadly dose of fentanyl.
A month before, a classmate died the same way.
“This is just our commitment in trying to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to take these dangerous pills off the street,” Diaz said during a media briefing.
And as a part of the massive takedown, law enforcement also seized 120 guns.
“Forty-eight of those weapons, including handguns, shotguns and rifles, were recovered within just the past few hours,” Diaz stated.
The guns are expected to be tested to see if they are linked to other crimes.
The 12 people arrested were indicted on gun and weapons charges as law enforcement had hit multiple areas, including Kent, Spanaway, Renton, Seattle, Burien, Pacific and other areas.
Those indicted in this round include:
- Cresencio Moreno Aguirre, 41, of Kent, Washington
- David William Armer, 41, of Spanaway, Washington
- Samuel Duarte Avila, 47, of Renton, Washington
- Elyas Mohamed Kerow, 27, of Seattle
- Brett David Radcliff, 21, of Puyallup, Washington
- Sergio Reyes-Pina, 39, of Seattle
- Herbert Dean Scott Jr., 49, of Burien, Washington
- Rafael Ramirez, 49, of Pacific, Washington
- Cesar Arambula, 39, of Kent, Washington
- Raul Barreto Bejines, 50, of Redmond, Washington
- Jorge Aguilar Duran, 42, of Issaquah, Washington
- Viet Phi Nguyen, 34, of Seattle
“The indictments and arrests today are a follow-up to the April 7, 2021 takedown involving 24 defendants. Most of those arrested today will appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle and Tacoma this afternoon,” according to the release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The recent rise of violent crime – specifically crimes involving the trafficking of firearms and illegal drugs – is of great concern to the Seattle Police Department, which is why the SPD values its partnerships with federal and local law enforcement agencies. By working together, we increase our ability to arrest dangerous offenders, get them off our streets, and weapons out of their hands,” Diaz said.
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