Skagit County residents among 10 arrested on federal drug trafficking charges

The suspected local leader of a heroin and methamphetamine trafficking ring in the north Puget Sound area and nine others were arrested Tuesday and search warrants were served on 30 locations, U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes announced. Six of the arrested suspects have Skagit County connections.

Law enforcement seized 18 firearms, 10 pounds of heroin, 20 pounds of methamphetamine and more than $500,000 in cash during Tuesday’s searches, according to a Department of Justice press release.

A six-month investigation led to the arrest of Jose Verduzco Urias, 40, who owns homes in Sedro-Woolley and Snohomish and is suspected to the be the leader of the Verducco Urias distribution group, according to the release, along with seven other defendants in the 10-person indictment. Three others were arrested and charged by federal criminal complaint.

Additionally, 12 other people were arrested on state and local charges. Those arrested on federal charges were scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle Tuesday.

“The people we charged today were moving up to two kilos of heroin a week into our neighborhoods, feeding addictions whose terrible impacts we see all around us,” Hayes said. “They distributed in urban centers, small towns and tribal communities, demonstrating yet again the sad fact that no place is immune from the scourge of opioid addiction.”

Verduzco Urias has reportedly been on the radar of law enforcement in previous investigations, and became a target of increased investigation in late 2017. Others named in the federal indictment were:

▪ Belinda Cruz, 40, of Sedro-Woolley.

▪ Alberto Cruz, 52, of Phoenix.

▪ Ferndande Santacruz, 27, of Mount Vernon.

▪ Rigoberto Sanchez, 28, of Sedro-Woolley.

▪ Jose Urena Verduzco, 32, of Kirkland.

▪ Julian Zamora Garcia, 34, or Seattle.

▪ Julio Cesar Fierro-Vega, 33, of Mount Vernon.

▪ Ivan Valdez Soto, 34, of Salem, Oregon.

▪ Victor Martinez, 23, Mount Vernon.

Law enforcement utilized information from a number of people who, according to the press release, made drug buys from members of the organization.

“This North Sound criminal enterprise has been on our radar for a very long time and the surgical removal of this group will thwart the flow of foreign-sourced heroin endangering our communities,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Keith Weis from the Pacific Northwest region.