Federal Prosecutors said four western Washington residents have been charged with drug trafficking conspiracy after they tried to swap 20 pounds of cocaine for crystal meth and cash.
\nIn September of last year, law enforcement found out about the deal to exchange the cocaine for 15 pounds of methamphetamine and $155,000, and officers intervened.
\nProsecutors said the man who arranged the swap is a 29-year-old Mexican national who lives in Marysville. Officers said they found a \u201csignificant\u201d number of firearms and ammunition at Luis Donaldo Galeana Garcia\u2019s home. He\u2019s been ordered detained.
\nAlso charged are 33-year-old Juan Carlos Garnica Pacheco of Everett, and two Bellingham residents, 35-year-old Lorena Esquivel and 27-year-old Dustin Ray Binion.
\nThe suspects face a minimum of ten years behind bars if convicted.
\nThe arrests were the result of a Homeland Security Task Force initiative aimed at \u201celiminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad,\u201d according to a statement from the US Department of Justice Western District of Washington.
\nThe Whatcom County Sheriff\u2019s Office, DEA, and FBI assisted in the case.
\nRead more of Heather Bosch\u2019s stories\u00a0here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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