Two Seattle-Area Men Sentenced for Trafficking Drugs Near Homeless Encampments

Two Seattle-area men were sentenced late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle for drug and gun crimes related to Seattle’s International District and the homeless encampment on I-5 called “The Jungle.”

Isai Gamboa Pacheco, 56, of Everett, Washington, was sentenced to six years in prison, and Sang Tran, 55, of Kent, Washington, was sentenced to 66 months in prison.

At Pacheco’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “Despite a previous conviction for the same offence, you came back to this country and did it again… but on a much larger scale…. You were a source of a significant amount of cocaine to members of this community. Cocaine is one of the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. What you did contributed to that suffering.”

“Both these defendants had one job and one job only – selling large amounts of meth and cocaine for distribution in the areas of our community plagued by crime and unhoused, vulnerable people dealing with addiction,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Tran had prior arrests and Gamboa Pacheco had a prior conviction and removal from the U.S. Still their greed kept them selling these poisons and carrying high-powered firearms to protect their drug trade.”

According to records filed in the case, the investigation began in November 2023, with the Seattle Police, FBI, and DEA focusing on drug trafficking organizations dealing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin in the homeless encampments of Seattle and in drug trafficking areas of the International District at locations such as 12^th and Jackson. Tran was in the first group of defendants arrested in January 2025. During the first arrest operation, law enforcement seized 17 firearms and 23 kilos of a suspected narcotic powder.

“Mr. Pacheco and Mr. Tran sought to profit from the addictions and suffering of others by redistributing huge quantities of dangerous drugs, and both were found in possession of even more drugs, along with firearms, during searches of their residences,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “The FBI and our partners will continue to hold accountable the members of this conspiracy and others like them as we combat drug trafficking and violent crime in Seattle and throughout the state of Washington.”

Tran had been heard on the wiretap arranging to purchase a pound of methamphetamine and redistribute it to another individual. When law enforcement searched his home, they found about 330 gross grams of cocaine, a loaded Taurus 12-gauge shotgun, ammunition, and proceeds of his drug trafficking activities in the form of United States currency, jewelry, and Rolex watches. In his garage, investigators found two more rifles. Tran admitted he kept the guns to protect his drugs and drug proceeds. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering for his efforts to hide drug proceeds by laundering tens of thousands of dollars through a nail salon.

“These defendants fueled addiction and violence by trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine while arming themselves with high-powered firearms,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Every drug trafficking organization dismantled, and every pound of poison seized makes our communities safer. DEA and our law enforcement partners are relentlessly disrupting the criminal networks, holding drug traffickers accountable, and working to build a Fentanyl Free America.”

The second defendant sentenced yesterday, Isai Gamboa Pacheco, was arrested in the second takedown involving this drug trafficking conspiracy. Following the January takedown, law enforcement continued the investigation into drug traffickers who were distributing in Washington state. This organization made frequent trips into Oregon and California. In March 2025 alone, law enforcement seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin. 

The street value of the narcotics was nearly $3 million.

On May 29, 2025, law enforcement executed 16 search warrants in Federal Way, Vancouver, Everett, Pacific, Tukwila, Kent, Issaquah, Seattle, Woodlake, California, and Beaverton, Oregon.  Investigators seized more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, and 17 firearms. They also seized more than $353,000 in cash.

Gamboa Pacheco was picked up on the wiretap making kilogram quantity deals of cocaine. When investigators served a search warrant at Gamboa Pacheco’s residence, they recovered more than $16,000 in drug proceeds. Investigators searched two of Gamboa Pacheco’s vehicles and found further evidence of Gamboa Pacheco’s crimes. Inside a Honda, investigators found almost three kilograms of methamphetamine and an unloaded Colt AR15 rifle with a drum magazine.

Gamboa Pacheco pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and being an alien in possession of a firearm.

In asking for a 90-month prison sentence, prosecutors noted this is Gamboa Pacheco’s second drug trafficking conviction. “Even after being caught previously and after receiving a considerable prison sentence, he voluntarily re-engaged in drug trafficking activities solely for his personal profit. Moreover, while engaging in his drug trafficking activities, he obtained a firearm knowing he could not legally possess it.” Gamboa Pacheco has no legal status in the U.S. and was previously removed to Mexico.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the U.S.. HSTF Seattle comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. 

The investigation was led by the FBI, Seattle Police Department, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with significant assistance from the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program (HIDTA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Washington National Guard Counterdrug Program. Investigators also worked with the Oregon State Police and Clark County, Washington Sheriff’s Office.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne.

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