SEATTLE — Two members of a drug trafficking ring that buried drugs and cash on a property near Arlington were sentenced to prison in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Jose Arrondondo-Valdez, 27, was sentenced to nine years in prison and 40-year-old Yvette Olguin was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Arrondondo-Valdez is the cousin of alleged ringleader Cesar Valdez-Sanudo. Olguin is Valdez-Sanudo’s wife. Both played key roles in the drug ring, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Nick Brown.
After a long wiretap investigation, members of the drug ring were charged in December 2020. Large quantities of drugs were seized during the investigation, including 49 pounds of methamphetamine that were coming to Washington from California in boxes disguised as household items, according to law enforcement.
During the investigation, about 143 pounds of methamphetamine, 15 pounds of heroin, 35,000 suspected fentanyl pills, 24 guns, and about $778,000 were seized.
“Jose Arrondondo-Valdez served as the right-hand man to ringleader Valdez-Sanudo. Arrondondo-Valdez was arrested with Valdez-Sanudo at the Snoqualmie Casino,” the news release from Brown’s office said.
Inside their car were three loaded guns with rounds chambered. One gun was equipped with a homemade silencer. Investigators said the men planned to confront a member of the ring who owed a drug debt.
Jose Arrondondo-Valdez lived on the Arlington property that Olguin and Valdez-Sanudo had purchased with drug money, court documents said.
During a search of the property, law enforcement found more than 27 kilos of methamphetamine, nearly six kilos of heroin, and nearly two kilos of fentanyl pills. Much of the drugs were buried underground. Ten guns were also found on the property.
Investigators said Olguin made hotel and travel arrangements for members of the drug trafficking ring and laundered the cash for the operation.
When the arrests were made, officers confiscated cash, checks, and the contents of bank accounts as money obtained from drug crimes.
Court documents say Olguin worked with her husband, Valdez-Sanudo, to launder more than $1 million through casinos and also bought property and vehicles with drug money.
During the sentencing for Arrondondo-Valdez and Oguin, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said his sentences were based “on the size of the drug ring and that it distributed fentanyl, which is an extraordinarily dangerous drug.”
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