Eight accused drug traffickers were indicted on federal charges after police seized 76 pounds of meth, more than 230,000 fentanyl pills and thousands in cash.
The Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a more than yearlong investigation Friday morning.
The task force is a cooperative effort of Kennewick, Richland, Pasco and West Richland police along with Benton and Franklin sheriff's offices, with the aim of disrupting narcotics trafficking, illegal firearms transactions and gang activity.
The task force started looking into the trafficking organization in 2022, according to a release from Kennewick police.
Officials described the group of suspects with gang ties who were distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine across the Tri-Cities.
Metro and the DEA continued working through 2023 in cooperation from both the U.S. Attorney's Office and Benton County prosecutors until they recently wrapped up the operation.
As part of search warrants served in Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and Benton County, police seized:
* 76 pounds of meth
* 238,000 fentanyl pills
* $18,000 in drug proceeds
* Six guns
* 2 pounds of cocaine
Eight Tri-Citians were indicted in connection with the drug operation, according to Kennewick police. The indictment includes eight counts for distributing fentanyl and six for distributing meth.
The details about the arrest and charges have been sealed, but all appeared to have been charged between June and July.
Police released the names of seven of the suspects. An eighth person was not named because they have not been arrested.
The seven people arrested are:
* Lamarr Craig, 42, of Pasco
* Travis Dammarell, 39, of Pasco
* Frank Humphries, 46, of Kennewick
* Ricardo Martinez, 31, of Pasco
* Abel Rivera, 42, of Kennewick
* Christian Rocha Centeno, 32, of Kennewick
* Teresa Sanchez, 31, of Richland
David Reams, special agent in charge of the Seattle DEA field office, praised the cooperation between local and federal agencies leading to the arrests.
"This case demonstrates how vital our federal, state, and local partnerships are to dismantling violent drug trafficking organizations preying on our communities with poisons like fentanyl and methamphetamine," he said in a news release.
Fentanyl was the cause of nearly all overdose deaths in the Tri-Cities in first half of this year. That followed a record high number of fentanyl related deaths in 2022 in the area.
Over the past five years, total overdose deaths in Benton and Franklin counties have been declining, but the percentage attributed to fentanyl has skyrocketed.
Health officials and law enforcement have been spreading the word that a tiny amount of fentanyl is lethal — one pill can kill.
Last week, Kennewick Police Chief Chris Guerrero told Gov. Jay Inslee during a stop in the Tri-Cities that the fentanyl crisis isn't something law enforcement can arrest their way out of. Stopping the supply, he said, has to be the focus.
