Jese Carillo Casillas, Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics, Washington 2018

Spokane – A notorious transnational drug trafficker has been handed a 25-year prison sentence for his role in a massive conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine in the Eastern District of Washington.

Jese Carillo Casillas, 33, of Kennewick, Washington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, as well as conspiracy to launder money on August 24, 2018. U.S. District Judge Edward F. Shea handed down the 25-year sentence, which will run concurrent to a 15-year term for the money laundering conspiracy. After serving his time, Casillas will be deported due to his non-citizen status.

The case against Casillas stems from a joint investigation into the Ivan Calvillo Transnational Drug Trafficking Organization, which had a distribution cell rooted in the Eastern District of Washington since 2010. The organization was responsible for importing and distributing massive quantities of narcotics, including 50 to 100 kilograms per month, into the United States and Canada.

Casillas took over operations for the organization after Ivan Calvillo was murdered in Mexico in December 2015. He reported directly to the head of the transnational trafficking organization in Mexico and was responsible for organizing, facilitating, and controlling the distribution network from Kennewick, Washington.

The organization's narcotics were imported through designated half-way points in the Los Angeles and Riverside, California areas into Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and to various locations throughout the Midwest and East Coast, including North and South Dakota, Minneapolis, Chicago, Kentucky, and New York.

As part of the investigation, a DEA undercover officer, posing as a money launderer, was in direct communication with Casillas, who arranged for over $1.6 million in cash drug proceeds to be picked up by the undercover operatives.

U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Harrington commended the joint effort between state and federal agencies, as well as international partners, in combating the organization and the accompanying violence associated with trafficking dangerous drugs into the community.

The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, which provides supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the investigation.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/transnational-drug-trafficker-sentenced-25-years-conspiracy-distribute-fentanyl-heroin