A 46-year-old Seattle man has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role distributing cocaine and fentanyl through a trafficking operation that targeted homeless encampments and the Chinatown-International District. Federal investigators say Sang Su carried a loaded firearm to protect the proceeds of the operation and dealt directly with the group's leader.
Investigators Say Su Was a Key Redistributor
According to a statement from FBI Seattle
, the sentence came out of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation into a drug trafficking organization that funneled large volumes of narcotics into vulnerable communities. In the statement, FBI Seattle Field Office Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said, “As a redistributor, Mr. Su contributed to the high volumes of deadly and addictive drugs this drug trafficking organization poured into our most vulnerable communities. He directly interacted with the group leader and further endangered the public by possessing a loaded firearm to protect the proceeds of the trafficking.” Herrington added that the FBI and its partners “will continue to hold each of these conspirators, and others like them, responsible for the damage they do to our communities.”
KOMO News reports that a U.S. District Court judge sentenced Su to two years in prison, with KOMO identifying the sentencing date as Wednesday. A separate announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington describes Su's sentencing as having occurred “late yesterday” relative to its own publication, a discrepancy in the exact date that has not been resolved between the two accounts.
A Years-Long Probe Into the Jungle and the CID
The investigation that led to Su's prosecution began in 2023, following drug-related violence near the Chinatown-International District and a greenbelt along Interstate 5 known locally as “the Jungle,” per the station's report. During the probe, a wiretap captured Su discussing cocaine sales and arranging for samples of fentanyl powder, the same reporting states.
That investigative work culminated in a major enforcement action. The article notes that investigators seized more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 guns and more than $353,000 in cash during the operation. Su himself was not arrested until August 18, 2025, and he had remained in custody since then, according to the same account.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown
Su's case is one of several tied to Homeland Security Task Force investigations targeting trafficking networks that federal officials say preyed on Seattle's homeless population and the Chinatown-International District. In a separate case, FBI Seattle reported that the leader of a trafficking organization received an eight-year prison sentence, while another defendant tied to an organization described as targeting the same areas was sentenced to six years, according to FBI Seattle. A Drug Enforcement Administration announcement also referenced a Homeland Security Task Force investigation resulting in a prison sentence for a trafficker who targeted the Chinatown-International District, though it is not established whether that case involved the same organization as Su's.
Federal officials have framed Su's sentencing as part of an ongoing effort to dismantle trafficking networks operating in some of Seattle's most vulnerable neighborhoods. The case underscores how investigators have moved beyond individual arrests toward building out full pictures of the organizations supplying drugs to encampments and dense urban districts alike.
