A Mexican national with a previous federal drug trafficking conviction was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for distributing cocaine and methamphetamine as part of a massive drug operation that preyed on homeless people in Seattle’s notorious “Jungle.”
Leonardo Rojas Cruz, 54, of Federal Way, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle for his role in a conspiracy that authorities say distributed narcotics around Seattle’s Chinatown-International District and homeless encampments beneath Interstate 5.
Rojas Cruz is expected to be deported after completing his sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
The sentencing is the latest in a federal investigation that uncovered a network moving massive quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs into Western Washington.
Rojas Cruz was among seven defendants charged in May 2025 with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. A lengthy wiretap investigation identified him as a redistributor purchasing multiple-pound quantities of drugs.
Prosecutors said investigators intercepted Rojas Cruz discussing drug trafficking beginning in October 2024 and later caught him discussing the sale of a pound of methamphetamine in February 2025.
“Rojas Cruz trafficked two of the three leading causes of overdose in King County—cocaine and methamphetamine,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Rojas Cruz had already served federal prison time for drug trafficking. In 1991, he was sentenced in the Eastern District of Washington to more than five years behind bars.
“Despite a prior drug trafficking conviction, Mr. Rojas Cruz chose to continue down a path leading to suffering and addiction for so many, purchasing kilogram quantities of controlled substances from his co-conspirators for resale to vulnerable populations,” FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin highlighted the risk of fentanyl contamination in cocaine during sentencing. “You not only gambled with your own life but with the lives of others as well,” Lin told Rojas Cruz.
The scale of the drug operation emerged through a series of seizures in 2025. In March alone, authorities investigating this organization and a related ring seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilograms of cocaine, 19 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills and four kilograms of heroin. Prosecutors estimated the street value at nearly $3 million.
“The street value of those narcotics is nearly $3 million—but the damage to our community due to addiction, crime and deaths far surpasses that number,” Acting U.S. Attorney Charle Neil Floyd said.
On May 29, authorities executed 16 search warrants across Washington, Oregon and California. Investigators seized more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms and more than $353,000 in cash.
DEA Seattle Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Saccone said the fentanyl powder seized from the organization represented approximately 1.7 million potentially lethal doses. “Mr. Rojas Cruz pushed deadly poison into the Chinatown International District, profiting from some of Seattle’s most vulnerable living in ‘The Jungle’,” Saccone said.
Co-defendant Giovanni Antonio Garduno Garcia was sentenced in June to six years in federal prison. A search of his Issaquah residence uncovered cocaine, fentanyl powder and pills, two semiautomatic firearms, body armor and more than $93,000 in cash.
Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said at the time that the organization targeted vulnerable people in the Chinatown-International District. “This man tormented our Chinatown-International District neighborhood and the broader Seattle community. He targeted some of our city’s most vulnerable residents, which is reprehensible,” Barnes said of Garduno Garcia.
Other members of the conspiracy have also been sentenced. Daniel Ibarra Loera, 32, of Kent, received eight years; Oscar Omar Serrano Serrano received 30 months; Jose Garcia Corona received 15 months; and Juan Lopez Roblero received 12 months. Sang Su, 44, of Seattle, is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 4.
The investigation was conducted under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by President Donald Trump through Executive Order 14159 to target cartels, transnational criminal organizations, gangs, and trafficking networks.
