Criminal Alien of the Week Report April, 17 2024

Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report

April 17, 2024

By David Olen Cross

The “Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report” in the third week of April 2024 has for your radio listeners and webpage followers a report on two Mexican transnational drug traffickers who have been sentenced to federal prison in a U.S. District Court in the state of Washington.

Some background information, on Friday, March 15, 2024the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington (USAOWDW), issued a news release titled “Two Bellingham, Washington transnational drug dealers sentenced to prison” who the subjects of interest were identified as 21-year-old Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington Case Number: 2:22-CR-00191) and 24-year-old Guillermo Vieyra Sala (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington Case Number: 2:22-CR-00191):

Here is an extended excerpt from USAOWDW’s March 15th news release on Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez and Guillermo Vieyra Salas:

Arranged to sell undercover agents thousands of fentanyl pills

Seattle – Two members of a transnational drug trafficking organization were sentenced to federal prison today for arranging the sale of more than 75,000 fentanyl pills, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez, 21, and a citizen of Mexico, sold 2,000 fentanyl pills to an undercover agent near Bellingham. Then, Lugo Enriquez and Guillermo Vieyra Salas, 24, also a citizen of Mexico, arranged a second deal involving 75,000 pills. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez sentenced Lugo Enriquez to 38 months and Vieyra Salas to 48 months in prison. Judge Martinez found troubling the large amount of fentanyl at issue here, particularly because fentanyl has become “a leading cause of death over the last couple of years.”

“Federal law enforcement is keenly focused on getting as much fentanyl as possible off our streets,” said U.S. Attorney Gorman. “Seizing more than 75,000 pills will save lives.”

According to records filed in the case, the case began with a tip that a Seattle-based member of the drug trafficking organization, later identified as Lugo Enriquez, was bringing bulk quantities of fentanyl pills into Western Washington from Mexico. Defendant Vieyra Salas was already on law enforcement radar, charged with a drive-by shooting where he fired 27 rounds from a car he was driving while carrying cocaine. He also has a pending cocaine trafficking charge in Skagit County.

Homeland Security Investigations undercover agents quickly set up drug deals – first for 2,000 pills with Lugo Enriquez and then for a large order of 75,000 pills with Lugo Enriquez, Vieyra Salas, and a third defendant. As Lugo Enriquez and Vieyra Salas waited for the third defendant to deliver the drugs, Vieyra Salas offered to sell the undercover agents more pills.

The third defendant arrived at a separate meeting place to deliver the pills and was arrested. Lugo Enriquez and Vieyra Salas were arrested over the following days.

The defendant who delivered the pills, Jaime Alonso Hernandez-Hernandez, 41, is scheduled for sentencing on June 7, 2024.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).” – U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

An important fact to understand, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), undertakes a significant role in the federal government’s law enforcement anti-drug trafficking mission.

Seeking detailed information on the historical immigration status of Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez and Guillermo Vieyra Salas on Monday, March 18, 2024 the “Criminal Alien of the Week Report” contacted via e-mail U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Public Affairs for the Northwest Region which encompasses the states of Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

As of Tuesday, April 16, 2024 ICE Public Affairs for the Northwest Region has not responded specifically to the “Criminal Alien of the Week Report” request for investigations and statements on Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez and Guillermo Vieyra Salas.

Most Recently, on Tuesday, April 17, 2024 Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez (BOP Register Number: 27906-510; Release Date: 06/29/2025) and Guillermo Vieyra Salas (BOP Register Number: 27685-510; Release Date: 03/17/2026) were incarcerated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at SeaTac FDC located in Seattle, Washington.

Juan Manuel Lugo Enriquez and Guillermo Vieyra Salas sentencing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington means they have joined more than 12-thousand Mexican nationals incarcerated in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prison system.

Lars, the third week of April 2024 and another “Criminal Alien of the Week Report” for Lars Larson Show KXL FM 101.1 Pacific Northwest radio listeners and website followers.

David Olen Cross (docfnc) is a reporter on foreign national crime. He is a more than decade long contributor to the “Lars Larson Show: Criminal Alien of the Week Report.” His past crime reporting can be found at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/.