Eastern Washington Crackdown: 30-Year-Old Californian Gets 9-Year Term for Drug Trafficking!
Cybersecdn– An American lawyer for the Eastern District of Washington, Vanessa R. Waldref, said today that a 30-year-old man from Salinas, California, was sentenced after pleading guilty to having 50 grams or more of actual (pure) methamphetamine with the intent to sell it.
U.S. District Judge Mary K. Dimke gave Michael Lopez Ferrel a sentence of 108 months in jail and five years of being watched while he was free.
The Drug Enforcement Administration found out in February 2022 that Ferrel was selling a lot of drugs to distributors in Eastern Washington. They did this by looking at proof presented during sentencing and court documents.
Through a trusted source, a meeting was set up to buy up to 20 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 500 tablets laced with fentanyl.
It was recorded in March 2022 when the spy and Ferrel talked on the phone. During the talk, Ferrel said that he sent between 180 and 220 pounds of methamphetamine from Mexico to Yakima every week. In the evening, Ferrel met the source in person.
Ferrel offered to give the spy pills that had 20 pounds of methamphetamine and lethal amounts of fentanyl. Ferrel also said that he had direct access to a source of drugs in Mexico and knew people in Mexicali and Tijuana who could help him get the drugs to the right place.
A secret source told Ferrel that he was going to sell ten pounds of methamphetamine over the phone on March 10, 2022. At Ferrel’s house and at the place where he met the informant, there were security cameras set up.
There were officers following Ferrel from his home to another place that was being used as a drug stash house. Later, police saw Ferrel putting cocaine in the trunk of the car. When Ferrel went to see the informant, he was still being watched by spies.
After pulling up next to the informant’s truck, Ferrel went over and took the cocaine out of it. After that, he got into the informant’s car and gave the snitch ten pounds of meth. Ten zip-lock bags that were already packed and could hold one pound of meth were used to hide the drugs.
Ferrel set up a meeting with the spy for the next day in Prosser, Washington, to get paid for the drugs. Detectives caught Ferrel as soon as he got to the scene of the crime. After dark that same day, agents searched the house that Ferrel’s group was using as a hideout. Agents found US$3,000, a loaded Colt.45 gun, a digital scale, and more than ten pounds of methamphetamine.
“The Drug Enforcement Administration and our Federal, state, tribal, and local partners strive to keep us all safe from those who would prey on our communities,” said David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. This term against a trafficker of methamphetamine and fentanyl shows that we will stop traffickers like Mr. Ferrel wherever they are.
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DEA Tri-Cities looked into this case with help from the Tri-Cities FBI, Tri-Cities Metro Drug Task Force, Tri-Cities Regional SWAT, US Border Patrol, and Tri-Cities FBI. This case was taken care of by Stephanie Van Marter, who is an assistant US attorney.
