A Mexican national residing illegally in Kent, Washington, has been sentenced to 22 months in prison for his involvement as a courier in a drug trafficking operation. Martin Alonzo Peinado Torres, aged 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson at the U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Peinado Torres explained that he came to the United States after responding to a Facebook post promising construction work. However, upon completing paperwork for the supposed employer, he discovered that the job involved transporting drugs. He claimed that members of the drug ring threatened his family if he did not comply with their demands.
Judge Evanson acknowledged Peinado Torres' lack of previous criminal history and stated, “You were lured to the U.S. under false pretenses.”
Court records reveal that Peinado Torres became entangled with an ongoing investigation into a drug trafficking organization shortly after arriving in the United States in mid-May 2024. By mid-June of that year, investigators had identified him as part of the operation. When search warrants were executed at his residence on August 2, 2024, authorities discovered over three kilograms of methamphetamine, nearly one kilogram of fentanyl pills, along with smaller quantities of fentanyl powder and cocaine. They also seized more than $12,000 in cash believed to be proceeds from drug sales.
Prosecutors requested a four-year sentence citing recent statistics on fentanyl-related overdose deaths: “In King County alone there have been 453 overdose deaths as of June 16th," they noted; "380 involving fentanyl." Prosecutors argued that Peinado’s actions contributed significantly to community addiction issues by distributing these dangerous substances.
Following his prison term completion it is likely that Peinado will face deportation proceedings.
The investigation leading up to this case was conducted by multiple agencies including Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Puyallup Police Department while prosecution duties fell upon Assistant United States Attorney Casey Conzatti.
This case forms part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) initiative which aims at identifying disrupting dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening US security through collaborative multi-agency efforts driven primarily via intelligence-led prosecutions coordinated across jurisdictions nationwide further details regarding OCDETF programs are available online via https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF
