A Benton City man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after federal agents investigated a tip that he was using the U.S. Postal Service to bring large amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine to the Tri-Cities area.
Angel Barajas-Zarate pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.
After the Southeast Washington Safe Streets Task Force of the FBI began investigating, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service notified the FBI in July 2022 of a suspicious package sent from Anaheim, Calif., to a box at the Benton City Post Office rented by Barajas-Zarate.
The package's route was being electronically tracked through a device in Mexico, according to court documents.
Postal Service records showed that about 20 other packages were sent from the same area of California addressed to Barajas-Zarate's post office box in the previous 11 months.
The package arriving in July was opened by federal agents after a narcotics K9 sniffed it and alerted to possible illegal drugs.
They found a boxed microwave in the package that was holding nearly 10 pounds of methamphetamine.
When Barajas-Zarate was not notified that the package had arrived, he repeatedly contacted the post office asking about a missing package containing a microwave, according to court documents.
A search in December 2022 of Barajas-Zarate's home on West Yakitat Road Northwest outside Benton City turned up nearly 400 grams of cocaine.
In his Dodge Ram pickup were about 29,000 fentanyl pills, about 6,000 grams of meth and more than 500 tablets of xylazine, a powerful veterinary sedative that is sometimes mixed with fentanyl, according to a court document.
Officers also found a recreational vehicle with multiple boxes of unopened tools and appliances they suspected were related to mailing illegal drugs, according to a court document.
Items seized from Barajas-Zarate's property included $4,700, a .40 caliber pistol, a 9mm pistol, a rifle and a shotgun.
After serving his prison sentence ordered by U.S. Judge Stanley Bastian, Barajas-Zarate will be on probation for five years, according to court documents.
Also named as a defendant in the same case is Hector Sanchez-Mendez of Richland, who also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Yakima federal courthouse.
Members of the FBI task force had seen Sanchez-Mendez at Barajas-Zarate's Benton City home.
On the same day that Barajas-Zarate's house was searched, officers also searched the house where Sanchez-Mendez lived on the 1100 block of Wright Avenue in Richland.
Law enforcement officers found more than 84,000 fentanyl pills, 1 kilogram of cocaine and a safe with $15,000 in a bedroom where Sanchez-Mendez said he was storing items for Barajas-Zarate for $300 a month.
The attic had 45 pounds of methamphetamine and appeared to be used to cut up bricks of methamphetamine and package the drug for sale, according to federal documents.
Drug ledgers and 13 guns were seized from the house.
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