The Columbia River Drug Task Force reports a joint operation with Homeland Security Investigations resulting in a search warrant service of a residence in the 900 block of Methow Street in Wenatchee, WA. This residence has been involved in numerous firearms, gang and narcotics investigations in the past. The residence is a known gang “hang out”.
The search warrant was served by the newly formed East Cascade SWAT Team in the early morning hours of June 30, 2022 resulting in two known gang members being arrested on Felony warrants. Jorge Verduzco Mendoza, a 24 year old male and his brother, Osvaldo Verduzco Mendoza, a 28 year old male were booked into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on their warrants.
Three handguns were seized during the course of the search warrant to include a stolen firearm from Ephrata, WA.
CRDTF expects to file more charges after the investigation is complete. CRDTF detectives are working with our federal counter parts with HSI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) as part of the investigation.
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Danger Tree Felling and Removal Project.
The project proposes to remove danger trees that may jeopardize public health and safety along up to 452 miles of National Forest System roads.
It is located within seven post-wildfire recovery areas (Diamond Creek, Mcleod, Cub Creek 2, Cedar Creek, Crescent Mountain, Twentyfive Mile, Schneider Springs and Jolly Mountain), on the Chelan, Cle Elum, Methow Valley, and Naches ranger districts and Chelan, Kittitas, Okanogan, and Yakima counties in Washington State.
More details on the proposed action are available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=62402.
The Columbia River Drug Task Force reports a joint operation with Homeland Security Investigations, started in March of 2022, has resulted in disrupting and dismantling a drug trafficking organization in the Wenatchee Valley that has ties to Arizona.
Three suspects have been arrested so far in the investigation. Tyson Horner, a 27 year old resident of Wenatchee , Nabiel Akhdary, a 44 year old resident of Phoenix, AZ and Brandon Lux, a 35 year old resident of Yakima have been arrested in connection of seizures of close to 10,000 Fentanyl pills, 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 2 pistols, and over $16,000 in cash.
At least 3 other suspects involved in the drug trafficking organization are in the process of being tracked down for charges related to possession for illegal narcotics with the intent to deliver.
Horner and Akhdary were Federally indicted in US District Court, Eastern District of Washington in Spokane, WA for Fentanyl distribution charges. Akhdary and Lux were both in possession of a loaded pistol when they were arrested and both subjects are convicted felons.
The Columbia River Drug Task Force works closely with our Federal partners, with Homeland Security Investigations, and both local and federal prosecutors to investigate, arrest, and convict Fentanyl
dealers in the Wenatchee Valley. As Fentanyl overdoses continue to climb both loc ally and nationally, CRDTF, our local prosecutor’s offices, and our local HSI office are committed to holding these drug dealers accountable.
See our previous story: Largest cache of stolen property ever recovered in our area was found in East Wenatchee (mansontribune.com)
The Columbia River Drug Task Force is still processing items seized from the search warrant that was served in the 100 block of N. Keller on May 20th, 2022. Victims are being identified and stolen property is being returned to the rightful owners. Items we suspect are stolen that still need owners:
* Cabinets
* Appliances-washer, dryer, stove, ovens
* Water heaters
* Electric fireplace
* Toilets
* Concrete finisher
* European oak flooring
* Evoke German flooring
* A lot of high-end alcohol
* Paint sprayers
* Numerous big screen TV’s
* Miter Saws
* Table Saws
* Heat pumps
* A lot of electrical wiring still in packing (receipts and/or proof of purchase needed)
* Assorted lumber/beams
* Motorcycle
Unfortunately, we have not seized small tools, small power tools (nail guns, skill saws, etc...).
The trailers located on the property have been returned to their owners.
What is needed for the CRDTF to release property:
* Case number from a law enforcement agency
* Serial number
* Description of items/s stolen to include identifying marks, photos, and/or receipts.
The public support has been outstanding. We thank you! The CRDTF has been inundated with phone calls and at this time we do not have the capacity to return every call. We hope this release will help clarify what property we do have and can possibly be released.
The Columbia River Drug Task Force reports that a search warrant was served on May 20th, 2022 in the 100 block of North Keller in East Wenatchee resulting in the recovery of hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen property from new construction sites in Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Franklin Counties. Part of the CRDTF’s expanded mission is to combat emerging crime trends in the Wenatchee Valley. CRDTF learned of widespread theft occurring at construction sites in Chelan, Leavenworth, Wenatchee, East Wenatchee and Rock Island going back as far as January of 2022. Detectives began compiling clues from construction contractors and the deputies and officers that took the initial reports that the suspect vehicle appeared to be a dually style pickup truck.
An attentive citizen contacted a Hispanic male with a dually pickup truck on a job site in the Sunnyslope area off of Easy Street in the early morning hours. The pickup truck was stuck in a ditch and the citizen wrote down the license plate which eventually made it to law enforcement for follow up.
CRDTF began surveillance on the truck and residence on Keller Street and applied for a search warrant. On May 19th, 2022 a Douglas County Deputy on patrol, ran a license plate of a trailer being pulled by the suspect vehicle and the trailer came back stolen out of Quincy, WA. The vehicle was stopped and a suspect was arrested for possession of stolen property. A male passenger was identified and released at the scene. The dually pickup truck was impounded and will be seized since it was used in the commission of a felony.
CRDTF detectives served the search warrant at the residence in the early morning hours of May 20th, 2022 and discovered a large amount of items that had been reported stolen from Sage Homes, Real Homes, Eider Construction, Pinnacle Custom Builders, Carlisle Classic Homes, along with numerous others. At the residence location over 12 Heat Pumps were located, 7 which had been stolen from new construction sites in Rock Island and Sunnyslope in the last month. Thousands of dollars in stolen lumber was recovered as well as flooring, siding, window packages, and numerous appliances. 3 stolen trailers were recovered to include the one being towed during the traffic stop, one of which was stolen out of Franklin County, WA. The amount of property seized took over two days to process with 4-6 detectives working 10-14 hours each day. Some of the property located was processed and returned to the owners. Professional movers were brought in to load up all of the unclaimed property and transported to a temporary site for processing and hopefully will be returned to the rightful owners. At this time it is believed that over 15-20 stolen property cases were closed as a result of this operation. This is believed to be one of the biggest caches of stolen property law enforcement in our area has ever come across.
CRDTF is asking for the communities help in returning other stolen property to its rightful owners. 100’s of unopened bottles of alcohol were also recovered and believed to be stolen as well. If you had a construction site that was burglarized or you know of a large amount of alcohol that was stolen please call 509-664-2310. An appointment time and location will be set up for viewing the property.
CRDTF and its law enforcement partners would like to thank the community for assisting in this investigation. The case wouldn’t have been successful without the help of watchful eyes from the community we serve. CRDTF is grateful and appreciative of the teamwork and support exhibited by Wenatchee Police, East Wenatchee Police, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Douglas County Prosecutor’s Office, the Chelan County Prosecutor’s Office and the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
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