YAKIMA, Wash. – 34 individuals from across the United States were indicted on criminal conspiracy charges following a long-term drug trafficking investigation, with 28 suspects already being in either state or federal custody, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
The announcement from U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref and multiple Washington state law enforcement partners came on Thu., April 18 during a press conference in Yakima.
The press release says the joint federal and state investigation, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, looked into La Nuestra Familia (NF), a prison gang responsible for trafficking drugs into communities. Some NF leaders are even serving life sentences in Colorado.
The arrests made resulted from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation that spanned several Washington locations along with areas in Louisiana, Colorado and Arkansas.
Robert Patrick Hanrahan, Rigoberto Escobedo Gonzalez, Travis Michael McGuire and Jose Alfredo Chavez Arredondo were alleged in the conspiracy indictment to have acted as supervisors to the individuals engaged in the criminal enterprise.
Charges for the indicted individuals include possession and distribution of illegal drugs, cockfighting, possession of illegal firearms, illegal U.S. Mail usage and attempts to kill those who assisted law enforcement.
Throughout the operation, 37 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, pound quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine, over 8,000 fentanyl-laced pills, $20,000 in U.S. currency and hundreds of roosters allegedly used in cockfights were seized by agents.
Several roosters found in Zillah and Outlook were turned over to the Heartwood Haven Animal Rescue in Roy, Washington.
“I am grateful for the coordinated efforts of so many law enforcement agencies, who simultaneously executed more than twenty search warrants in the Yakima area and across the United States earlier today,” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “More than 350 federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement came together to coordinate the takedown of this alleged drug trafficking operation.”
