The first defendant among approximately 20 individuals charged with drug trafficking in Seattle’s homeless encampments and the International District has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Theodore Nation, age 36, has been held since January 2025. U.S. District Judge Tana Lin, during sentencing, noted that Nation had been dealing drugs “to particularly vulnerable and marginalized members of the community.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd stated, “This drug trafficking organization sold addictive substances to some of the most marginalized members of our community – those living in homeless encampments such as ‘The Jungle’ under Interstate 5. This defendant made his living feeding the addiction of others making it ever more difficult for them to get out of the danger of homeless encampments.”
W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, said, “As a redistributor, Mr. Nation had a significant role in the Jungle Drug Trafficking Organization which sold dangerous drugs in the homeless encampments near the International District and I-5. This organization and others like it fuel the fentanyl crisis in the United States with drugs that all too often prove fatal. FBI Seattle remains committed to working with our partners to combat drug trafficking and violent crime in Seattle and across the state of Washington.”
Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge at DEA Seattle Field Division, commented on enforcement efforts: “In Seattle, our fight for a Fentanyl Free America is not abstract — it’s on the streets. The fentanyl powder alone seized from this group contained more than 1.7 million potentially lethal doses. Mr. Nation trafficked fentanyl and other deadly drugs in and around our homeless encampments and preyed on the most vulnerable in our community. The DEA, alongside our federal and local partners, is committed to using every enforcement tool at our disposal to shut down fentanyl supply chains, protect public safety, and save lives in Seattle and across the nation.”
The investigation began in November 2023 through cooperation between Seattle Police Department, FBI, and DEA targeting a group distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin primarily within homeless encampments and known areas for drug activity near locations such as 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street. Law enforcement used wiretaps authorized by court order to gather evidence leading up to arrests beginning January 2025; some suspects were found with firearms at that time.
During these operations in January 2025, authorities confiscated 17 firearms along with approximately 23 kilograms of suspected fentanyl powder.
A subsequent round of indictments occurred later that May after further investigation revealed large quantities of narcotics moving through these networks: March seizures included about 100 pounds of methamphetamine, over 110 kilograms of cocaine, nearly 20 kilograms of fentanyl powder, roughly a quarter-million fentanyl pills, four kilograms of heroin—narcotics valued close to $3 million on the street.
Prosecutors sought a longer sentence for Nation based on concerns about increasing deaths from fentanyl overdoses; King County recorded a rise from 167 overdose fatalities involving fentanyl in 2020 to over one thousand by 2023. While numbers decreased slightly afterward—with 788 cases reported for 2024 and nearly seven hundred for 2025—the problem remains significant.
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including FBI, DEA, IRS-CI (Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation), King County Sheriff’s Office, Tukwila Police Department as well as Seattle Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne are prosecuting this case.
This case falls under an initiative called Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), established by Executive Order 14159 aiming to dismantle criminal cartels operating domestically or internationally through interagency collaboration among law enforcement bodies such as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, DEA ATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives), US Marshals Service (USMS), Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), IRS-CI United States Secret Service (USSS), Customs & Border Protection (CBP) plus Coast Guard Investigative Service—all coordinated by U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western District of Washington.
