Tri-Cities investigation takes down drug dealer selling ‘massive quantities’ across U.S.

A California man linked to a drug trafficking operation with ties to Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and New York that sold in the Tri-Cities area and two co-defendants have been sentenced to a combined 27 years in federal prison.

Ruben Galvan-Trujillo traveled across the country from the Los Angeles area, including to Washington state, to broker drug deals for the operation, according to the prosecution.

He received the longest sentence among the defendants in the case, 11 years and four months, from U.S. Judge Mary Dimke.

“Mr. Galvan-Trujillo was a large-scale drug trafficker who was responsible for pushing massive quantities of illegal narcotics not just into Eastern Washington, but across all the United States,” said Vanessa Waldref, U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington.

Another defendant in the case, Angela Madrigal Chavez, who had 19 cars registered in her name in Othello arrived in the Tri-Cities with a shipment of 20 pounds of methamphetamine, according to court documents. She was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

A third defendant in the case adjudicated in the Richland federal courthouse was sentenced to six years in federal prison. Estaban Zavala-Bernal, who lives in the Los Angeles area, was accused of driving the shipment of meth with Madrigal Chavez from California to Pasco, Wash.

A confidential source was used by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to contact Galvan-Trujillo, after the source had previously discussed buying 20 pounds of meth from him.

Meth driven to Pasco

Galvan-Trujillo agreed in January 2022 to send 10 pounds of crystal meth in an initial test run to the Tri-Cities for $35,000, plus a $5,000 fee for delivering the drugs from California.

If the test run was successful, the drug trafficking organization would then send regular drug shipments of more than 50 pounds of meth, cocaine and other drugs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

However, the courier backed out because the initial amount negotiated was too small, according to court documents.

Zavala-Bernal then agreed to transport 20 pounds of meth to Pasco, with the delivery charge doubling to $10,000 and the cost of the drugs $80,000.

He arrived on Feb. 23, 2022 in Pasco in a Ford Taurus driven by Madrigal Chavez.

She backed the car into an empty storage unit, closed the door and then she spent about 20 minutes working to open a hidden compartment in the car with the meth, according to court documents.

She retrieved 20, one-pound packages of methamphetamine.

While the DEA confidential source and the two couriers were at the storage unit, Zavala-Bernal appeared to make a call on speaker phone to Galvin-Trujillo, according to court documents.

Courier Zavala-Bernal told the confidential source that he sold illegal drugs in his own operation at a lower cost. That was in addition to his work with Galvan-Trujillo in an operation that moved drugs to Yakima, then to Seattle and then to Toronto, Canada, according to court documents.

Search finds heroin, fentanyl

A search in December 2022 at Madrigal Chavez’s home of the Ford Taurus found 2 kilograms of cocaine, 1 kilo of heroin and about 8,000 fentanyl pills. An insurance policy paper for Zavala-Bernal also was found in the car.

Each of the three defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine.

Attorneys for Galvan-Trujillo argued in court documents that the case was not as large as depicted by the prosecution. It involved only one drug transaction in the Tri-Cities, they said.

They also said the prosecution had produced no evidence to support its claim that Galvan-Trujillo had been under investigation, in at least one case for years, in New York, California or elsewhere.

They asked Dimke to limit their client’s sentence to seven years and six months, or more than three years less than the sentence she handed down.

Galvan-Trujillo’s attorneys said he would lose his permanent resident status and would be deported to Mexico once he finishes his prison sentence.

“The sentence in this case reflects the serious threat that Mr. Galvan-Trujillo posed to all of us,” said David Reames, special agent in charge at the DEA Seattle Field Division.

The case was investigated by the DEA Tri-Cities, which includes the DEA, the Kennewick Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with the assistance of the Tri-Cities Metro Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Van Marter prosecuted the case.