Two Seattle-area men were federally sentenced for running a drug operation tied to homeless encampments and the International District, following a multiagency investigation that uncovered large quantities of narcotics, numerous firearms, and cross-state trafficking.

Federal court in Seattle handed down prison terms this week to two men linked to a trafficking network that supplied methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin to vulnerable populations near encampments and public drug markets. The case centers on activity near the homeless encampment on I-5 known as “The Jungle” and hotspots in the International District.

Isai Gamboa Pacheco, 56, of Everett was sentenced to six years in prison. Sang Tran, 55, of Kent received a 66-month sentence after pleading guilty to his role in the conspiracy and related firearms offenses.

At Pacheco’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “Despite a previous conviction for the same offence, you came back to this country and did it again… but on a much larger scale…. You were a source of a significant amount of cocaine to members of this community. Cocaine is one of the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. What you did contributed to that suffering.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd described both defendants’ commercial intent plainly: “Both these defendants had one job and one job only – selling large amounts of meth and cocaine for distribution in the areas of our community plagued by crime and unhoused, vulnerable people dealing with addiction,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Tran had prior arrests and Gamboa Pacheco had a prior conviction and removal from the U.S. Still their greed kept them selling these poisons and carrying high-powered firearms to protect their drug trade.”

The investigation began in November 2023, with Seattle Police, the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration focusing on trafficking organizations operating in homeless encampments and at locations such as 12th and Jackson. Tran was arrested in the initial takedown in January 2025, when law enforcement seized 17 firearms and 23 kilos of suspected narcotic powder during that operation.

W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, put the investigation in blunt terms: “Mr. Pacheco and Mr. Tran sought to profit from the addictions and suffering of others by redistributing huge quantities of dangerous drugs, and both were found in possession of even more drugs, along with firearms, during searches of their residences,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “The FBI and our partners will continue to hold accountable the members of this conspiracy and others like them as we combat drug trafficking and violent crime in Seattle and throughout the state of Washington.”

Wiretap intercepts captured Tran arranging to buy a pound of meth for redistribution, and searches of his home produced about 330 gross grams of cocaine, a loaded Taurus 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition, and proceeds of trafficking in the form of cash, jewelry, and Rolex watches. Investigators also found two rifles in his garage; Tran admitted he kept the guns to protect his drugs and drug proceeds and pleaded guilty to laundering tens of thousands of dollars through a nail salon to hide illicit proceeds.

DEA Seattle’s lead emphasized the public safety stakes: “These defendants fueled addiction and violence by trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine while arming themselves with high-powered firearms,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Every drug trafficking organization dismantled, and every pound of poison seized makes our communities safer. DEA and our law enforcement partners are relentlessly disrupting the criminal networks, holding drug traffickers accountable, and working to build a Fentanyl Free America.”

Pacheco was arrested in a later takedown as investigators continued to follow the organization’s supply chain, which stretched into Oregon and California. In March 2025, law enforcement seized massive quantities in a single month: roughly 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin, with a street value near $3 million.

On May 29, 2025, authorities executed 16 federal search warrants across a broad geographic sweep — including Federal Way, Vancouver, Everett, Pacific, Tukwila, Kent, Issaquah, Seattle, a California locale referred to as Woodlake, and Beaverton, Oregon — recovering more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, over 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms, and over $353,000 in cash.

Investigators intercepted Pacheco arranging kilogram-level cocaine deals on the wiretap, and a search of his residence turned up more than $16,000 in suspected drug proceeds. Evidence from two of his vehicles included nearly three kilograms of methamphetamine and an unloaded Colt AR15 rifle fitted with a drum magazine. Pacheco pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and being an alien in possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors asked for a 90-month sentence and noted this was a repeat offense: “Even after being caught previously and after receiving a considerable prison sentence, he voluntarily re-engaged in drug trafficking activities solely for his personal profit. Moreover, while engaging in his drug trafficking activities, he obtained a firearm knowing he could not legally possess it.” Gamboa Pacheco has no legal status in the U.S. and was previously removed to Mexico.

This probe was conducted under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, which coordinates federal partners against cartels, transnational criminal organizations, human smuggling, and other cross-border threats. The task force combines resources from Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, USPIS, IRS-CI, Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with prosecution handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

The investigation was led locally by the FBI, Seattle Police Department, and DEA with significant assistance from IRS-CI, HIDTA, HSI, and the Washington National Guard Counterdrug Program, and with additional cooperation from Oregon State Police and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne.