SEATTLE — Between his computer science classes at Cascadia Community College in Bothell, a man nicknamed “Cookie” ran a multi-million dollar cocaine and heroin ring between Mexico and Snohomish County.
Javier Sanchez-Vasquez’s college campus days are over, at least for the next decade.
A federal judge on Friday sentenced Sanchez-Vasquez to more than 13 years behind bars. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin.
Detectives found about 55 pounds of drugs, along with $1.2 million in cash, hidden in secret compartments in vehicles. The discovery was made during an investigation dubbed “Los Intocables,” or “The Untouchables.”
Sanchez-Vasquez, a Mexican citizen, is expected to be deported after being released from prison.
“We can only hope he does not find his way back into Snohomish County,” said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Cornell.
Cornell is a Snohomish County deputy prosecutor specially designated to handle drug cases in federal court.
Sanchez-Vasquez was deported in 2001 after serving three years in prison for selling cocaine to an undercover detective in Lynnwood.
He returned and started up where he left off, Cornell said.
Sanchez-Vasquez was arrested last year after a nine-month investigation by the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Narcotics detectives became interested in Sanchez-Vasquez after a confidential source told them a man nicknamed “Cookie” was supplying an Everett drug dealer with large quantities of heroin.
Investigators followed Sanchez-Vasquez and wiretapped his cell phone.
The wiretap operation required the help of a special translator once investigators learned that Sanchez-Vasquez and his co-conspirators were speaking Mixteco Baja, a rare, indigenous dialect spoken in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Along the way, detectives recorded multiple drug deals in Everett, Marysville, Arlington and Snohomish.
Detectives searched several vehicles used by the drug dealers and discovered secret compartments stuffed with bundles of cash. One of the compartments was opened by pressing on the vehicle’s brake while pushing a button installed under the driver’s seat.
“It was a sophisticated operation,” and Sanchez-Vasquez was “the domestic field general who did this on the backs of his underlings,” Cornell said.
Five other men have pleaded guilty in connection with the drug ring and sent to prison.
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