War on Drugs Comes to Vashon | Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber – Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber

A residence in the 9300 block of Gorsuch Road on Vashon was included in a major search and arrest operation conducted by combined federal and local law enforcement agencies at 19 locations throughout the Seattle region in the early morning hours of June 30.

The takedown resulted in 12 indictments made later that day on charges of drug trafficking, according to a press release issued by Tessa M. Gorman, Acting United States Attorney for Western District of Washington. The press release listed names and places of residence of those indicted; none included Vashon as a place of residence.

Both Emily Langlie, communications director of the U.S. Attorneys Office, and Steve Bernd, spokesperson for FBI Seattle, confirmed that the residence on Gorsuch Road was a search location in the operation. Bernd additionally said that no arrests were made at the location.

The 12 people indicted on June 30 were charged with conspiring to distribute controlled substances including cocaine and cocaine base in the form of crack cocaine. They are:

Cresencio Moreno Aguirre, 41 of Kent, Washington

David William Armer, 41, 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, Pacific, Washington

Cesar Arambula, 39, of Kent, Washington

Raul Barreto Bejines, 50, of Redmond, Washington

Jorge Aguilar Duran, 42, Issaquah, Washington

Viet Phi Nguyen, 34, of Seattle

Additionally, the press release detailed that two unidentified people who were were arrested in the raids on June 30 would be charged separately by criminal complaint and that two of those indicted are still being sought by law enforcement.

The raids were the second round of arrests in a two-year investigation by the FBI involving armed drug trafficking in the region; 24 other defendants were indicted in early April.

Over the course of the two-year investigation, law enforcement has seized 84 firearms, 16 kilos of cocaine, about 50,000 fentanyl tainted pills, $1 million in cash, a pill press, three pounds of methamphetamine, and some heroin.

The June 30 raids alone resulted in the seizure of 48 guns, two kilograms of cocaine, two pounds of methamphetamine, several thousand fentanyl pills and two illegal marijuana grows. An additional $120,000 cash was also seized.

On July 1, The Seattle Times also reported that a Seattle police officer shot a man in Puyallup on June 30 while serving a search warrant connected to the investigation.

The investigation was led by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force with key participation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Gang and Narcotics Units, Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

The June 30 arrests and searches involved teams from FBI, DEA, Seattle Police Department, HSI, Pierce County Sheriffs Office, King County Sheriffs Office, Valley SWAT, Kent Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and Narcotics/Currency/Firearms K9 support from Snohomish County Sheriffs Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Centralia Police Department, Auburn Police Department, Renton Police Department, King County Sheriffs Office, and Tacoma Police Department.

The pre-dawn operation on Vashon included helicopter support and lasted about an hour, according to islander Jacqueline Clayton, who lives nearby Gorsuch Road.

Clayton said she was awakened around 4 a.m. on June 30 by the sound of a helicopter circling tight and low, and heard law enforcement officers on loudspeakers giving instructions for people below to come out of the house, with their hands up. The helicopter left around 5 a.m., she said.

Read this article:

War on Drugs Comes to Vashon | Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber - Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber