Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Used female couriers to transport pills in luggage from source in Arizona to Seattle and Baltimore airports
Tacoma – Over the last 36 hours, law enforcement executed 13 search warrants and arrested eight of nine people charged in an indictment for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Five others were arrested on Complaints based on firearms and narcotics found during searches of their residences and cars. Some of those arrested identify as part of the Knoccout Crips street gang which has been tied to drug trafficking and violence in Tacoma. The drug trafficking ring was the subject of an 18-month investigation, including a two-month wiretap, led by the FBI.
“Over the last 18 months, law enforcement carefully tracked the activities of this drug trafficking ring, seizing kilogram quantities of fentanyl pills and powder from checked luggage at Sea-Tac airport,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. “The wiretap revealed the far-reaching scope of the conspiracy, with drug mules attempting to transport fentanyl from Arizona to Tacoma and in at least one instance on to Baltimore.”
“Yesterday, the FBI’s South Sound Safe Streets Gang Task Force, together with more than a dozen partner law enforcement agencies, conducted a large-scale takedown targeting violent criminal street gangs involved in drug distribution and other violent crimes in Pierce County,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “An 18-month investigation revealed that these gang members and associates were sending couriers down to a source of supply in Phoenix to bring huge quantities of fentanyl back to Washington state in their checked luggage for redistribution. This case is an example of the FBI’s commitment to combatting violent criminals and gangs, as emphasized in Operation Summer Heat, a nationwide initiative targeting violent criminals and restoring safety in our communities.”
Those indicted in the ten-count indictment include:
- Bryant K Moss Jr aka ‘BJ’, 29, of Tacoma
- Gary Williams aka “Fat Boy,” 36, of Tacoma
- Dominique Woods aka “Kane,” 33, of Spanaway
- Joshua Logsdon aka “Bird,” 38 of Lakewood
- Michael Lewis, 32, of Seattle
- Dallas Martin, 28, of Phoenix
- Josaphina Diaz, 30, of Tacoma
- Forest Neal, 31, of Tacoma
- Genesis Moreau, 25 of Vancouver
All nine of the defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Individual defendants are also charged for specific dates in which they had possession of fentanyl and distributed it between March 2024 and April 2025.
An additional 7 arrests of individuals connected to this conspiracy were made based on probable cause established in yesterday’s search warrants. These individuals were:
- James Whitaker, 37 of Tacoma
- William Young, 47 of Yelm
- Bryant Moss Sr., 48 of Tacoma
- Jaylin Irish, 30 of Tacoma
- Dominique Buffington, 31 of Edgewood
- Troy Harris, 38 of Tacoma
- An Do, 35 of Tacoma
In the leadup to this week, law enforcement seized during the investigation:
- Fentanyl – 34 kg
- Marijuana – 45 kg
- Firearms – 9
Over the last 36 hours, law enforcement seized:
- Fentanyl – 2683.3g
- Cocaine – 227.9g
- Methamphetamine – 6,850.7g
- Heroin – 40.7g
- Marijuana – 27,593.8g
- Cash – $ 111,524.25
- Firearms – 23
Due to the quantity of drugs seized in this case, some defendants face a mandatory minimum ten years in prison if convicted.
The charges contained in the indictment and complaints are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This investigation was led by the FBI’s South Sound Safe Streets Gang Task Force in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations, the Tacoma Police Department, the Lakewood Police Department, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Washington State Department of Corrections. Throughout this investigation, the following agencies assisted the primary investigators: the Federal Air Marshal Service, the Port of Seattle Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Seattle Police Department, Washington State Patrol, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Fife Police Department, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristine Foerster and Crystal Correa.
This operation is part of Summer Heat, the FBI’s nationwide initiative targeting violent crime during the summer months. As part of this effort, the FBI has launched a multi-pronged offensive to crush violent crime. By surging resources alongside state and local partners, executing federal warrants on violent criminals and fugitives, and dismantling violent gangs nationwide, we are aggressively restoring safety in our communities across the country.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.