A Washington man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in a Seattle drug bust, connected to a large international drug smuggling ring with direct ties to Mexico and Colombia. Curtis McDaniel, 56, received his sentence Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle after his June 2024 arrest during a joint operation led by the DEA, Seattle Police, and IRS Criminal Investigation.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin underscored the severity of McDaniel’s crimes, noting the connection between his meth and cocaine distribution and the spike in overdose deaths in King County. McDaniel was also sentenced to four years of supervised release.
McDaniel was one of four suspects arrested on June 5, 2024, in an investigation that exposed a high-level drug trafficking network in the Pacific Northwest. Authorities say the group had direct sourcing relationships with narcotics suppliers in Mexico and Colombia.
The lead figure in the case, 37-year-old Mexican national Ramon Duarte Garcia, was caught with 12 pounds of meth, a stolen firearm, and $10,000 in cash. He was sentenced in May to 10 years in federal prison. Another conspirator, 30-year-old Humberto Lopez Rodriguez, also a Mexican citizen, is scheduled for sentencing in July.
The investigation uncovered major drug and weapons caches: 84,000 fentanyl pills, over 1 kilogram of fentanyl powder, 32 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of meth, 3 kilograms of heroin, $71,000 in drug cash, and nine firearms, including an AK-47.
The case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a multi-agency effort to dismantle transnational criminal operations. The DEA and Seattle Police led the case, supported by multiple federal, state, and local agencies, along with assistance from Colombian authorities.
