Mexican drug trafficker sentenced to prison for drugs and weapons crimes

SEATTLE – A Mexican drug trafficker living in the Seattle-area was sentenced Friday to eight years in federal prison for drug and weapons crimes, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Kent and Seattle police departments.

Melquiades Garcia Gonzalez, 29, of Kent, was arrested May 20, 2014, when he attempted to deliver 3 kilograms of heroin to undercover officers in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Kent. When investigators moved in to make an arrest, Garcia Gonzalez fled in his vehicle at a high rate of speed, court records state. A few blocks away he bolted from the car and was chased on foot. During the foot pursuit, investigators saw Garcia Gonzalez throw a handgun into the bushes near an apartment complex yard where young children were playing. The weapon was a loaded .40-caliber pistol.

In addition to the 3 kilograms of heroin in the car, another kilogram of heroin and a second loaded firearm were later discovered Garcia Gonzalez’s home. At the time of his arrest Garcia Gonzalez was unlawfully present in the United States.

Garcia Gonzalez pleaded guilty last November to being an alien in possession of a firearm, possession of heroin with intent to deliver; and possession of firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.