Law enforcement in Seattle has dismantled a massive drug trafficking ring operating in homeless camps and seized enough fentanyl to kill the entire city twice.

The operation was centered in the city's homeless encampments and Chinatown-International District.

"Fourteen individuals were indicted in late May 2025, and eleven were taken into custody during a series of coordinated arrests across Washington, Oregon, and Southern California," the Post Millennial reports.

The suspects are accused of trafficking drugs from California into Washington.

The investigation began in November 2023 and was a coordinated effort involving the Seattle Police Department, the FBI, the DEA, and other agencies under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).

"For years, this criminal organization preyed on the homeless and drug addicted," said Seattle Police Chief Shon F. Barnes, according to the Post Millennial. "They terrorized people living and working in the Chinatown-International District and South Seattle. I am proud of the work our detectives and federal partners have done to put these criminals behind bars where they belong."

In March 2025 alone, law enforcement seized 100 pounds of meth, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin, drugs with a street value nearing $3 million. The outlet reports that a later operation in May netted "7 kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms, and over $353,000 in cash."

Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller said of the busts, "Now we are prosecuting fourteen additional defendants," Miller said. "Law enforcement partners continued to pursue drug traffickers… to address the importation of substances like fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine into western Washington generally and the International District in particular."