RICHLAND, Wash. – The leader of a Tri-Cities drug trafficking operation is facing a sentence of 15 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for distributing fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
Etzael Bejar-Cardenas was sentenced on Feb. 22 after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl.
During court proceedings, it was revealed that multiple members of the Bejar-Cardenas family have been involved in trafficking drugs in the Tri-Cities and Seattle area.
The family is responsible for trafficking hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills into Washington communities, according to the Attorney’s Office.
Search warrants were executed in March 2022 across the Tri-Cities. Over one kilogram of fentanyl pills and several firearms were found at a stash house run by the Bejar-Cardenas family in Pasco.
Police later went to a home where Bejar-Cardenas was staying at the time. A 15-year-old flushed several fentanyl pills down a toilet when police arrived and a search of the mother’s bedroom found a safe with firearms and $30,000 in cash inside.
Bejar-Cardenas was not found during the March 2022 searches, however he had seen them take place via a security camera and fled to Mexico where he continued running his trafficking operation.
Bejar-Cardenas would later get in contact with an undercover law enforcement officer who was solicited to set up a new stash house to store 50,000 fentanyl pills.
On his return to the U.S., Bejar-Cardenas was arrested. While detained, he offered other detainees the phone number for his “uncle” who was the head of the drug trafficking organization so they could have a source for drugs when they were released.
“Mr. Bejar-Cardenas was a key member of a large drug trafficking organization and directed distribution of a large number of deadly drugs across Eastern Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref. “Mr. Bejar-Cardenas exposed minor children and even an infant to deadly fentanyl and to his drug trafficking activities. After he was taken into custody, Mr. Bejar Cardenas brazenly attempted to distribute illegal narcotics. Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat facing this country. The Eastern District of Washington is safer and stronger today as a result of the tireless work of our law enforcement partners and federal prosecutors.”
Bejar-Cardenas’ case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
