Monroe, Washington, resident convicted for role in wide-ranging drug trafficking ring

Press Release

Delivered pound quantities of drugs, sought to provide firearms, and acted as translator for Spanish speaking drug conspirators

Seattle - A 42-year-old Monroe, Washington resident was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle of Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances following a week-long jury trial, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Humberto Garcia was arrested in December 2020 with seven other defendants tied to a drug trafficking ring distributing heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl throughout the Puget Sound region. The jury deliberated about two hours before reaching the guilty verdict. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones scheduled sentencing for August 16, 2024.

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, Garcia's car was searched on October 3, 2020, after drug ringleader Jose Luis Ibarra-Valle, 40, was pressuring Garcia to get him a firearm to kill a drug user who owed him money. No firearm was found, but Garcia had drugs hidden in a fake soda can in the car. A few weeks later, Ibarra-Valle was stopped returning from a drug run to California. In the car authorities found approximately 10,000 pills that contained fentanyl, more than eight kilograms of methamphetamine, and more than a kilogram of heroin. These drug amounts count towards Garcia's conviction as part of the conspiracy.

Ibarra-Valle and the other coconspirators entered guilty pleas. Last year, Ibarra-Valle was sentenced to nine years in prison. The remaining coconspirators have been sentenced, with a range of sentences from time served, to over six years in prison. Garcia is the final defendant in this case and the only one who went to trial.

Over the course of the investigation law enforcement seized 16,000 suspected fentanyl pills, 30 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, and six pounds of suspected heroin.

In his closing statement, Assistant United States Attorney Michael Harder pointed to numerous wiretapped phone conversations between Garcia and drug supplier Ibarra-Valle. "They were setting up a working relationship," Harder said, Garcia wanted to be "his right-hand man."

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF .

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force, Washington State Patrol, Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, United States Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, Skagit County Interlocal Drug Enforcement Unit, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, the Lake Stevens Police Department and Tulalip Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Vince Lombardi and Michael Harder.

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Updated April 23, 2024