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Release [print
friendly page] Seattle man Sentenced to 13+ years in APR 28 --(Seattle) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Jeffrey Sullivan, announced that Javier SANCHEZ-VASQUEZ was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 160 months in prison (13 years, 4 months) and five years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine and Heroin. As part of the plea agreement from January 2008, SANCHEZ-VASQUEZ forfeits to the government more than $1.2 million in cash stashed in various homes and cars. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez commented that “the quantity of drugs and cash is substantial... it is one of the highest we’ve seen in federal court.” According to records filed in the case, SANCHEZ-VASQUEZ ran a drug trafficking organization out of his residence in Kirkland, Washington while he was enrolled in classes at Cascadia Community College. The organization was importing heroin and cocaine from Mexico for distribution in King and Snohomish counties. SANCHEZ-VASQUEZ believed he was “untouchable” by law enforcement. The case name for the operation became “Los Intocables” or “The Untouchables.” On April 9, 2007, investigators served search warrants at SANCHEZ-VASQUEZ’s Kirkland home and at a stash house he had rented in north Seattle. At the two locations they found more than 16 kilos of cocaine and more than 10 kilos of heroin. In addition, investigators seized: $227,720 in cash from a vehicle in an Arlington commercial storage locker; $105,711 in cash from the Kirkland residence; $608,900 in cash from SANCHEZ-VASQUEZ’s black Ford Explorer; and $272,840 inside his White Honda Accord. This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.
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