Huge Drug Seizure Gets Eastern WA Dealer 19 Years in Prison

A 45-year-old Mexican national will spend 19 years in prison for his role in a massive Eastern WA drug ring.

  The man was overseeing huge quantity of drugs

Luis Esquivel-Bolano of Guerro, Mexico, was found guilty back in April, and was sentenced Monday, July 21st in Federal Court in Spokane.

Bolano was arrested April 19th, of 2023 when agents raided his rural home near Oroville, WA.   Bolano was a key member of a drug organization that was peddling drugs from Central Montana to numerous Indian lands in Eastern and Northeastern WA.

Officials said several times Bolano and others in the organization threatened to kill people including one person they thought was a "snitch."  They also claimed members of the Jalisco Cartel (who was their drug supplier) would kill people who got in their way.

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When agents raided his home, the found a near-record amount of drugs and weapons for a rural drug bust:

"...161,000 fentanyl-laced pills (to include Mexi-blues and rainbow-colored pills), approximately 80 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 6 pounds of heroin, and more than 2 pounds of cocaine. The BIA, DEA, and their partners also seized approximately 12 firearms."

The DEA, Bureau of Indian Affairs and other agencies participating in the raid and investigation.