Feds dismantle Sinaloa Cartel-linked drug ring in Washington state with massive drug bust, arrests
“This fentanyl could have killed everyone living in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.”
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“This fentanyl could have killed everyone living in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.”
Federal, state, and local authorities have taken down a major Sinaloa Cartel-connected drug trafficking operation accused of flooding western Washington state with fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin. The coordinated takedown, conducted over the past three weeks, resulted in 19 defendants being charged in what investigators describe as one of the largest cartel busts in the region in years.
Law enforcement officials said the drug ring, led by Rosario Abel “Joaquin” Camargo Banuelos, 31, and his brother Francisco “Fernando” Camargo Banuelos, 24, smuggled narcotics from Mexico into the Pacific Northwest, often using semi-trucks to haul loads up from California.
“This Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated drug trafficking group brought misery and death to our community,” said David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Seattle Field Division. “The work of the DEA and our partners seized hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl from this group that could have yielded a staggering 6.9 million lethal doses. This fentanyl could have killed everyone living in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.”
The Camargo Banuelos brothers, based in Sinaloa, Mexico, allegedly oversaw the trafficking network that stretched from Whidbey Island and Arlington to Tacoma and Lacey.
The 37-count federal indictment names multiple conspirators, including truck driver Isabel Villarreal Zapien, 44, who allegedly moved large drug shipments and was arrested earlier this year. Other indicted defendants include couriers, redistributors, and stash house operators from both Mexico and Washington state.
Among those charged:
Several defendants face firearms charges tied to the trafficking operation.
Four additional suspects were arrested during search warrant raids on August 4, 2025, including Derel Gabelein, 37, of Whidbey Island, where police seized meth, fentanyl, and other drugs. Another defendant, John Hardman, 57, of Everett, was found with $50,000 cash and a brick of fentanyl powder stamped with a swastika.
The August raids uncovered seven pistols, three rifles, and massive amounts of narcotics: nine kilos of meth, five kilos of fentanyl, nearly four kilos of cocaine, and more than a kilo of heroin. Over $342,000 in suspected drug proceeds were also seized.
Authorities note that earlier phases of the investigation had already yielded 465 pounds of meth, 269 pounds of fentanyl, 23 pounds of cocaine, 6.4 pounds of heroin, $309,000 in assets, and 11 firearms.
Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller emphasized that the indictment reaches all the way back to cartel leaders in Mexico. “This indictment names not only the redistributors in the Western District of Washington, but also the brothers in Mexico who profited by spreading their poisons and addiction in the Pacific Northwest,” he said.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) praised the collaboration among agencies. “HSI remains firmly committed to combating the dangerous networks responsible for importing deadly narcotics into the United States,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Colin Jackson.
Thirteen defendants are currently in custody, while six remain at large. Due to the scale of the drugs seized, many face mandatory minimum sentences of at least 10 years in federal prison.
The operation was spearheaded by the DEA and Seattle Police Department, with support from HSI, under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Justice Department initiative aimed at dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations. Assistant US Attorneys Max Shiner and Crystal Correa are leading the prosecution.
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