The Department of Justice says a drug tracking conspiracy has been undone after a year-long wiretap investigation involving local and national law enforcement agencies as well as law enforcement in Mexico and Columbia

Law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search and arrest warrants taking four people into custody.

The four arrested are US, Mexican and Columbian citizens who were residing in Kent, Renton, Tukwila and Plainfield, NJ.

“This operation is a fantastic example of collaborative police work between Seattle PD, the DEA, the IRS, and the Colombian National Police,” said Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr.

“Whenever possible, we try to trace both the origin of drugs and the money going back to those who supply the drugs, said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

A fifth person connected to the conspiracy, a Mexican citizen who had previously lived in Renton, is currently behind bars in a federal facility in California.

During the investigation one of the accused, Ramon Duarte Garcia, a Mexican citizen living in Kent was stopped driving back to the Pacific Northwest with 12 pounds of meth, a stolen firearm and cash.

In all, law enforcement seized 84,000 fentanyl pills, more than a kilogram of fentanyl powder, 32 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of methamphetamine nearly three kilograms of heroin, nine firearms and $71,000 cash.

“Following the money has taken this investigation to places both close and far from home, allowing us to disrupt this large-scale drug trafficking chain from end-to-end,” said Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office.