Lakewood man among 5 charged as part of family-run drug ring bringing meth to Washington
A 35-year-old Lakewood man is one of five people charged in U.S. District Court last week for felonies related to drug trafficking in Southwest Washington. Federal prosecutors say the suspects are part of a family organization that has been moving illicit drugs for 10 years.
Jesus Venegas-Gatica was charged June 6 with nine counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to court records. Jose Venegas-Gatica, 34, of Fresno, California; Juan Tolentino-Chino, 33, of Astoria, Oregon; Cristobal Venegas Diaz, 47, of Centralia and Esteban Martinez-Ortiz, 32, of Mexico, received similar drug trafficking charges for possession and distribution.
All but one of the suspects have been detained pending further court proceedings, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. Law enforcement is working to bring Martinez-Ortiz into custody. If convicted, the suspects each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison due to the large amount of drugs involved, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“These defendants are responsible for huge loads of methamphetamine, which continues to cause death and destruction in our community,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in the news release. “In one instance they brought 55 pounds of methamphetamine to Western Washington via Amtrak train — fortunately law enforcement seized the drugs at the Kelso train station.”
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration Tacoma Resident Office, the Lewis County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Grays Harbor County Drug Task Force.
According to court records, the Venegas family has been involved in drug trafficking to Washington since at least 2012. Jesus Venegas-Gatica was charged in Lewis County in 2012 in connection to a 15-pound load of methamphetamine that was seized from him. Charging documents say the defendant fled the county and returned under a different name.
In 2013, law enforcement seized 70 pounds of meth, 10 firearms and $120,000 from members of the drug trafficking organization. And an arrest in Kitsap County in 2019 led to 20 pounds of meth being seized.
In the current case, charging documents say the defendants conducted large-scale methamphetamine deals in Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Cowlitz and Grays Harbor counties. One informant told investigators the Venegas family transported 20 to 25 kilograms of meth to Washington each month. Law enforcement tied the defendants to trafficking more than 105 pounds of meth at locations including a casino parking lot in Thurston County and an outlet mall store in Centralia.
On May 11, law enforcement executed a search warrant on an apartment in Lakewood where Jesus Venegas-Gatica had been living. Inside the residence near Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest and 88th Street Court West, law enforcement found about 16 kilograms (35 pounds) of meth inside a suitcase, court records state.
Jesus Venegas-Gatica was inside the apartment and agreed to speak with investigators, telling them the meth was his and that he made a delivery of one kilogram the night before to a customer in Tacoma. Another man inside the apartment said he was paid about $4,000 by Venegas-Gatica to bring the meth from California.
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 1:58 PM.
