Homeland Security Task Force investigation leads to seven-year sentence for Lakewood, Washington, drug trafficker

Seattle - A 21-year-old Lakewood, Washington resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 84 months in prison for leading a drug trafficking organization distributing pound quantities of methamphetamine, announced Fist Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Antonio Velasquez Encinas first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2022 when he was just 17 years old. The teen was stopped with his aunt (codefendant Martha Velazquez Sanchez) as the two were driving up from California with a load of 14 pounds of methamphetamine. Neither was charged at that time, but two years later Antonio Velasquez Encinas was leading a drug trafficking organization.

At today's sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, "The impact that controlled substances have in our communities are immeasurable," and noted that Velazquez Encinas "had been involved in this conduct for some time," and had "role models . . . guiding you on how to engage in this conduct."

According to records filed in the case, the Velazquez Encinas drug trafficking organization (DTO) was indicted on March 12, 2025. Antonio Velasquez Encinas was the lead defendant. He arranged for multi-pound drug deliveries that were distributed by his brother Keven Velazquez Encinas or his aunt, Martha Velazquez Sanchez. In all, eight members of the DTO were indicted and linked to some 20 pounds of methamphetamine deliveries.

In asking for an eight-year prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court that "Velazquez Encinas distributed large quantities of methamphetamine to numerous local redistributors in the South Sound region. He acted as the leader of the drug trafficking network, taking orders for methamphetamine, setting prices, and directing others to distribute the drugs on his behalf. . . . The drug epidemic that has been raging for years has shown that this is by no means a victimless crime. Controlled substances have led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths a year. It is as if we are living in an unending pandemic. But this epidemic only persists because of drug traffickers such as the defendant."

Chief Judge Estudillo sentenced Velazquez Encinas to be on four years of supervised release following his prison term.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Seattle comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

This investigation was specifically led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force (TNT).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Max Shiner.