Two Anchorage men sentenced to decades in prison for roles in Homeland Security Task Force drug trafficking conspiracy case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Two Anchorage men were sentenced over the past two months to decades in prison for their roles in a local drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, from March 2024 to March 2025, Aaron Washington, 60, led a drug trafficking organization involving James Barber, 44, and multiple other people who conspired to import drugs, mainly fentanyl, from the Lower 48 and distribute the drugs in Alaska.

Washington used co-conspirator drug suppliers located in Arizona and Washington state. Washington arranged for the drugs to be transported back to Alaska either in his checked baggage, in his co-defendants' checked baggage or via mail shipment. Phone data revealed that Washington communicated with co-conspirators at length to arrange for the pick-up, purchase, shipment and distribution of drugs. Barber, who worked as a paralegal, used his professional skills to provide legal advice to Washington on facilitating the drug trafficking organization.

Evidence presented during Barber's trial showed that between November 2024 and March 2025, Barber regularly went to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to pick up luggage containing one to two kilograms of fentanyl on behalf of the drug trafficking conspiracy.

On one occasion, Washington flew from Anchorage to Phoenix on Nov. 14, 2024, to purchase fentanyl from a codefendant. Washington flew back to Anchorage on Nov. 18. Surveillance video showed Washington bypassing the luggage carousel and heading for the taxi line, while Barber picked up a checked suitcase and left separately.

On another occasion later that month, Washington again flew to Phoenix and returned with two kilograms of fentanyl purchased from a co-conspirator. Law enforcement seized the fentanyl pursuant to a search warrant at the airport. Texts between Washington and Barber indicated that Barber was planning to pick up the luggage at the airport but failed to do so. Washington took the empty bag and took a taxi home.

Law enforcement recorded at least seven other trips with similar circumstances to both November incidents and connected roughly 20 kilograms of fentanyl, 70 grams of heroin, 165 grams of methamphetamine and 10 grams of cocaine to the drug trafficking conspiracy.

Barber was convicted by a federal jury in April 2026 and sentenced today to 27 years in prison and will spend 20 years on supervised release upon completion of his prison sentence. Washington pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in February 2026 and was sentenced on July 15, 2026, to 25 years in prison and will serve 10 years on supervised release upon the completion of his prison sentence.

"Mr. Washington and Mr. Barber acted with arrogance, gambling with Alaskans' lives-and in Barber's case, using his paralegal experience to circumvent the law and expand a drug trafficking network in our state," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. "It is this kind of disregard for the law and for human life that fuels substance abuse nationwide. My office is committed to disrupting that pipeline here in Alaska. This isn't just a warning; it is a promise that we will work relentlessly to find anyone pumping poison into our communities and hold them accountable."

"These sentences follow a thorough investigation that led to multiple arrests, significant drug seizures, and the complete dismantlement of a multi-state drug trafficking organization operated and advanced by Mr. Washington and Mr. Barber," said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Schlegel of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. "The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively target violent offenders and dismantle drug trafficking organizations that fuel violence and addiction in our communities, while holding drug traffickers accountable for their crimes."

All other co-defendants in this case have pleaded guilty and have either received their sentence or are awaiting sentencing.

The FBI Anchorage Field Office investigated this case, with assistance from the Alaska State Troopers and Anchorage Police Department as part of the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force, and from the Mat-Su High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) team. Additional assistance was provided by the Airport HIDTA team and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tom Bradley, Mac Caille Petursson and Alana Weber prosecuted the case.

This prosecution 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 Region One comprises agents and officers from Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations - Seattle; the United States Attorney's Office(s) for the Districts of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Western Washington; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); CBP - Office of Field Operations; CBP - Air & Marine Operations; U.S. Border Patrol; U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Transportation Security Administration, Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska.

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