A 22-year-old Sinaloa, Mexico native, Jose Carlos Peraza Alvarez, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years in prison and three years of supervised release for operating a stash house linked to a drug trafficking organization, according to an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Peraza Alvarez was arrested on August 2, 2024, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents raided the SeaTac residence where he lived. Authorities seized 70 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of heroin, one kilogram of fentanyl pills, and six kilograms of fentanyl powder.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson commented on the scale of the offense: “The aggravating point is the quantity of drugs seized. This is a serious offense involving large amounts of controlled substances.”
Law enforcement began monitoring Peraza Alvarez in summer 2024 during an ongoing investigation into a drug trafficking group. By July 2024, DEA surveillance identified his address in SeaTac. In early August, authorities searched both his home and that of Martin Alonzo Peinado Torres—a co-conspirator serving as a runner for the organization—in Kent, Washington. While minimal drugs were found at Peinado Torres’ residence, more than $12,000 in cash was recovered during the search. Peinado Torres was sentenced in June 2025 to 22 months in prison.
Peraza Alvarez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in May 2025.
Prosecutors had sought a six-year sentence for Peraza Alvarez due to the dangers associated with fentanyl and methamphetamine distribution. They stated: “While Mr. Peraza Alvarez certainly possessed copious amount of deadly fentanyl, he also had a sizable cache of methamphetamine. Fentanyl is obviously known for its deadly properties, the government also notes that methamphetamine was the second most common drug involved in King County overdose deaths in 2024. In 2024, there were 581 overdose deaths that involved methamphetamine, which represented 56% of all overdose deaths in King County,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
Peraza Alvarez was illegally present in the United States and is expected to be deported after serving his prison term.
The case was investigated by the DEA and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Casey Conzatti.
