Quilcene woman jailed during crackdown of interstate drug ring

More than 1.9 million doses of fentanyl seized

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A Quilcene woman was arrested as part of a two-state, 10-team SWAT takedown that targeted a drug ring authorities say is tied to a white supremacist prison gang.

Two dozen people were arrested over five days in Washington and Arizona, and federal authorities said officers seized more than 1.9 million doses of fentanyl, 230 pounds of methamphetamine; and 225-plus firearms.

One of those arrested was Anna Sarnes, 37, of Quilcene.

Deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest of Sarnes on March 22.

The armored tactical vehicle from the sheriff’s office was used in the arrest, which was the third time the vehicle has been used since it was acquired last year.

Officers with the sheriff’s office declined to offer details on the arrest.

Sarnes is one of 21 people in Washington who were taken into custody. Three people in Arizona have also been jailed, and Department of Justice officials said Monday they were still searching for three others connected to the drug ring.

A total of 27 people have been indicted by a grand jury for their alleged participation in the illegal drug operation.

Officials said Monday that many of those in the indictment are tied to the “Aryan Family,” a white supremacist prison gang.

U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said the alleged leader of the drug trafficking organization, Jesse James Bailey, is also an influential member of the Aryan Family.

Authorities claim Bailey trafficked huge amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drugs in Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.

“While the dozen counts in this indictment do not detail every criminal moment in this conspiracy, it does provide one remarkable statistic:
48 firearms seized in this case even before last week’s takedown,” Brown said.

“On Wednesday we took another 177 guns off the street and additional kilos of fentanyl and meth,” Brown added. “The level of danger is high when you have people connected to Aryan prison gangs spreading drugs and using guns in our community.”

Approximately 350 law enforcement officers were used in last week’s arrests in 18 locations across Washington and Arizona.

Federal authorities said the coordinated takedown resulted in the seizure of an additional 177 firearms, more than 10 kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash.

“This operation was the culmination of a year and a half of great investigative work,” said Richard A. Collodi, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. 

“We were able to arrest over 20 subjects, some of whom are alleged to have operated this drug organization from prison, and also prevented vast quantities of dangerous drugs from being sold on our streets. I’m so proud of how the FBI, along with our federal, state, and local partners worked together to keep our community safe,” he said.

Before last week’s arrest, the investigation into the drug ring had led to the seizure of 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, and 5 pounds of cocaine.

Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Seattle office, said the amount of illegal drugs recovered was “shocking.”

“The fentanyl seized in this operation contained enough lethal doses to kill everyone who lives in Tacoma and Seattle, with enough lethal doses left over to poison another half a million people,” Galvan said.

The case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation, and was led by the FBI.

Federal officials said the investigation was assisted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Washington State Department of Corrections.