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DEA agents arrest four locally in statewide raid

Crime: Drug busts net 31 across state I-5 corridor, officials say

JEREMY PAWLOSKI; The Olympian | • Published July 03, 2009

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Federal agents seized guns and methamphetamine Wednesday from a home in the 5000 block of Boston Harbor Road and arrested two Olympia-area men and two Yelm men.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said the raids were part of a coordinated effort throughout Washington that the DEA said dismantled a Mexican meth-trafficking ring.

Thirty-one people were arrested statewide as part of the DEA’s “Operation Arctic Chill,” a 14-month investigation into meth and cocaine trafficking that stretched from northern California to Washington. The operation resulted in the seizure of 19 pounds of meth with a street value of more than $300,000, $60,000 in cash, a quarter-pound of cocaine and at least 22 guns, DEA spokeswoman Jodi Underwood said.

In Thurston County, Harold Wesley Moreland, 59, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. According to the complaint, Moreland and Doug Alfonso, 48, another Olympia-area man charged in the conspiracy, purchased methamphetamine from the drug-trafficking organization and sold the drugs from a home in the 5000 block of Boston Harbor Road.

Thurston County Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain said Thursday that local law enforcement agencies assisted the DEA with raids at four locations Thursday in Thurston County – two in the Boston Harbor Road area, one near Yelm and one in Rainier.

The Yelm men who were arrested are Erika Oseguera, 26, and Crescenciano Yanez-Bucio, 30, according to the DEA.

Underwood said the coordinated busts included the seizure of a meth lab in Oakdale, Calif. The drug-trafficking ring involved networks all over the Puget Sound region, according to the DEA. Members of the organization used vehicles with hidden compartments to take meth along the Interstate 5 corridor, a DEA news release states.

The members of the organization spoke in code, calling meth “clothes” or “blind man” and referring to poor-quality drugs as “stretched” or “bruised,” the release states. Locations raided in Washington include Olympia, Yelm, Roy, Rainier, Carnation, Federal Way, Lynnwood, Puyallup, Tacoma and Vancouver.

The DEA has identified a Roy man, Martin Oseguera-Chavez, as the leader of the drug trafficking organization. The organization was responsible for purchasing meth and cocaine from sources in Mexico and California for distribution in Washington, according to the DEA.

Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465

jpawloski@theolympian.com