SEATAC, Wash. — This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com
A 22-year-old native of Mexico was sentenced in Seattle on Monday to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for operating a stash house for a drug trafficking organization, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced via a news release.
Jose Carlos Peraza Alvarez was arrested on August 2, 2024, after Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents raided a SeaTac stash house where Alvarez lived.
SeaTac drug trafficker sentenced
DEA agents seized 70 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of heroin, one kilogram of fentanyl pills, and six kilograms of fentanyl powder.
“The aggravating point is the quantity of drugs seized,” U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson stated in the release. “This is a serious offense involving large amounts of controlled substances.”
Law enforcement was aware of Alvarez back in the summer of 2024, when the DEA investigated a drug trafficking organization, according to records filed in the case.
By July 2024, the DEA was able to surveil and determine Alvarez’s address in the city of SeaTac. In early August, DEA agents searched Alvarez’s home as well as the home of a co-conspirator in Kent.
The co-conspirator, Martin Alonzo Peinado Torres, acted as a runner for the drug trafficking organization. Torres had small amounts of drugs at his residence, but the DEA found more than $12,000 in cash during the search. Torres was sentenced in June to 22 months in prison.
In May, Alvarez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Alvarez’s prosecutors asked for a six-year sentence and highlighted the deadly consequences of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“While Mr. Peraza Alvarez certainly possessed a copious amount of deadly fentanyl, he also had a sizable cache of methamphetamine,” prosecutors wrote. “Fentanyl is obviously known for its deadly properties. The government also notes that methamphetamine was the second most common drug involved in King County overdose deaths in 2024. In 2024, there were 581 overdose deaths that involved methamphetamine, which represented 56% of all overdose deaths in King County.”
Alvarez was in the United States illegally and will likely be deported following his prison term, according to the DOJ.
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