A 25-year-old Federal Way man is headed to federal prison for nearly 11 years after prosecutors said he helped move massive quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine into Western Washington while keeping firearms close to the operation. The case stretched from Southern California to Seattle and included repeated drug seizures, a storage unit and more than a dozen alleged co-conspirators.
Federal Way Leader Sentenced After Multi-State Pipeline
Hector Duran Aldaco, also known as Jay Thrax, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 130 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Washington. He pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and using a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Federal prosecutors said Aldaco was responsible for attempting to distribute 85 kilograms of methamphetamine, 30 kilograms of fentanyl and 2.5 kilograms of cocaine. At Monday's hearing, U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson described the amount as “a staggering quantity of controlled substances,” while investigators said the organization used rental cars and, after several traffic stops, intercity buses to move drugs north.
Seizures Reached From California To Portland
The case became public in May 2024, when the Justice Department announced that 13 people had been indicted or arrested in a conspiracy involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and alprazolam. Authorities said the broader investigation had already produced seizures of 59 kilograms of fentanyl pills, 81 kilograms of methamphetamine, 21 kilograms of cocaine and 11 firearms.
Investigators later searched Aldaco's Federal Way residence and storage unit, recovering three firearms, ammunition, body armor, more than $14,000 in cash and jewelry, plus more than 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, 200 grams of cocaine and over 10 kilograms of marijuana. Prosecutors said the storage unit also appeared to support a marijuana-growing operation.
Sentence Comes Amid Broader Regional Crackdown
Aldaco's sentence follows another major Western Washington drug case: On July 29, a Puyallup distributor tied to white prison gangs received 11 years in federal prison after a separate investigation seized hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills and dozens of firearms, according to the Western District of Washington.
In Aldaco's case, investigators said the supply chain was connected to a Mexico-based drug-trafficking organization and that narcotics were redistributed throughout Western Washington. The conviction and sentence now close out the federal case against the ring's leader, while the region's broader fight over fentanyl, methamphetamine and firearms continues.
