Two Mexican citizens sentenced after massive fentanyl deal with undercover agents
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Two Mexican citizens accused of trying to sell undercover agents thousands of fentanyl pills in Bellingham were recently sentenced to multiple years in prison.
The U.S. Department of Justice says 21-year-old Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez and 24-year-old Guillermo Vieyra Salas were members of a transnational drug trafficking organization.
Enriquez was sentenced to three years and two months in prison, and Salas was sentenced to four years.
According to court records, Enriquez was bringing bulk quantities of fentanyl pills into Western Washington from Mexico. Salas was already on law enforcement's radar, as he was charged with a drive-by shooting where he fired 27 rounds from a car while carrying cocaine.
Homeland Security set up two drug deals with undercover agents, first for 2,000 pills with Enriquez, and then for 75,000 pills with both Enriquez and Salas.
Enriquez and Salas were arrested several days after the deal.
A third defendant, identified as 41-year-old Jaime Alonso Hernandez, was also arrested. His sentencing is scheduled for June 7.
These sentencings come just after another Mexican national was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl and meth into Western Washington.