SEATTLE, WA  – A 22-year-old native of Sinaloa, Mexico was sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, for operating a stash house for the drug trafficking organization. Jose Carlos Peraza Alvarez was arrested August 2, 2024, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents raided the SeaTac, Washington stash house where Peraza Alvarez resided. DEA agents seized 70 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of heroin, one kilogram of fentanyl pills, and six kilograms of fentanyl powder. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson said, “The aggravating point is the quantity of drugs seized. This is a serious offense involving large amounts of controlled substances.”

According to records filed in the case, Peraza Alvarez came onto the radar of law enforcement in the summer of 2024. The DEA was investigating a drug trafficking organization and by July 2024, was able to surveil and determine Peraza Alvarez’ address in the city of SeaTac. In early August they searched Peraza Alvarez’s address as well as the address of a co-conspirator in Kent, Washington. That co-conspirator, Martin Alonzo Peinado Torres, served as a runner for the drug trafficking organization. Peinado Torres had minimal amounts of drugs at his residence but had more than $12,000 in cash at the time of the search. Peinado Torres was sentenced in June 2025 to 22 months in prison.

Peraza Alvarez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in May 2025.

In asking for a 6-year sentence for Peraza Alvarez prosecutors noted the deadly consequences of both fentanyl and methamphetamine. “While Mr. Peraza Alvarez certainly possessed copious amount of deadly fentanyl, he also had a sizable cache of methamphetamine. Fentanyl is obviously known for its deadly properties; the government also notes that methamphetamine was the second most common drug involved in King County overdose deaths in 2024. In 2024, there were 581 overdose deaths that involved methamphetamine, which represented 56% of all overdose deaths in King County,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

Peraza Alvarez was illegally in the United States and will likely be deported following his prison term.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Casey Conzatti.