MARYSVILLE—Border Patrol agents, with assistance with Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), took down a massive drug and firearms trafficking ring in Marysville, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks announced to X on Wednesday. The investigation, which began in the summer of 2025, was spearheaded by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It involved collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The operation focused on Luis Donaldo Galeana Garcia, a 29-year-old Mexican citizen residing in Marysville, who U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd identified as the ringleader of the conspiracy.
The Department of Justice alleged that Galeana Garcia orchestrated a major drug exchange involving approximately 20 pounds of cocaine in exchange for 15 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and $155,000 in cash. Before the exchange could occur, law enforcement intervened, leading to the abandonment of a vehicle by Galeana Garcia and another suspect, Juan Carlos Garnica Pacheco (33, from Everett).
In addition to Galeana Garcia and Garnica Pacheco, two other individuals were also involved in the drug exchange: Lorena Esquivel (35, from Bellingham) and Dustin Ray Binion (27, from Bellingham).
Subsequent search warrants were executed at the suspects’ residences, including Galeana Garcia’s home in Marysville. Galeana-Garcia and Garnica Pacheco both had a significant number of firearms and ammunition for semiautomatic weapons. The evidence as to Galeana Garcia was presented to Magistrate Judge Kate Vaughan who found him both a flight risk and a danger to the community, and ordered him detained.
Seizures from the operation included:
- Over 10 kilograms of cocaine.
- A 9mm handgun found in a vehicle’s center console.
- Significant firearms and ammunition compatible with semiautomatic weapons.
- Multiple vehicles linked to the trafficking.
All four defendants were initially charged with drug trafficking conspiracy. Due to the amount of narcotics involved in this case, the defendants face a mandatory minimum ten-year prison sentence.
These arrests werepart of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, DOJ reports. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vincent T. Lombardi.
Author: Mario Lotmore
