Yakima on Edge: Mexican Cartels in Focus in Wa and The Valley

Federal authorities say Mexican drug cartels are now operating in all 50 states including 4 cities in the Yakima Valley. Officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration say two cartels, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have pushed aside all other drug trafficking competition.

THE SYNTHETIC DRUGS HAVE KILLED 37 PEOPLE IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY SO FAR THIS YEAR

“The shift from plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, to synthetic, chemical-based drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced,” says DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. In the Yakima Valley DEA officials say the powerful drug cartels are now operating in the cities of Yakima, Selah, Toppenish and Sunnyside.

DRUGS AREN'T THE ONLY THING THE CARTELS ARE DEALING

Authorities say large quantities of drugs and guns come directly from the Mexican border. The drugs are then broken up and distributed throughout the northwest.
The cartels not only deal in illegal drugs but also illegal guns. In fact in 2022 Yakima authorities seized what they describe as a large weapons cache from a transnational crime organization trying to establish itself in Yakima.

A LARGE QUANTITY OF GUNS AND DRUGS WERE SEIZED IN YAKIMA IN 2022

A press release from the Yakima Police Department says they partnered with Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives to serve two federal search warrants at two locations in Yakima. During the search of the unknown locations "Special Agents seized 27 high powered rifles, 2 shotguns and 9 handguns. Also seized during the warrants was US currency, methamphetamine and fentanyl."

NO RECENT ARRESTS BUT THE INVESTIGATIONS ARE ONGOING

The search warrants were related to an ongoing investigation into the New Generation Jalisco Cartel who are smuggling narcotics from Mexico into the United States.
"Large weapons caches and fentanyl are a dangerous combination which continues to fuel the violence and crime increases in our communities,” says Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations in the Pacific Northwest.

FEDERAL AUTHORITIES WORK CLOSELY WITH LOCAL POLICE

“We are grateful for the partnership with ATF and the Yakima Police Department as when we are unified in our goals it is the community that wins.” Nearly all the methamphetamines sold in the United States today is manufactured in Mexico, and it is purer and more potent than in years past. The shift to Mexican-manufactured methamphetamine is evidenced by the dramatic decline in domestic clandestine lab seizures.