Tri-City Drug Dealer Gets 9 Years for Meth, Fentanyl

A 26-year-old Tri-City man will spend 108 months in prison for his role in distributing drugs around the region.

   The man also gets four years probation.

DEA officials pinpointed Richard Cantu as the primary leader of a drug ring in September of 2023.  He and 3 other suspects were put under surveillance.

DEA agents staged a pair of buys from Cantu and fellow suspects Julio Gaspar Iniguez, Veronica Martinez, and Daniel Mora.  Cantu and Mora were armed during these transactions, according to the DEA.

In December of that year, DEA Agents and other law enforcement raided Cantu's and Gaspar's homes. In the Cantu raid, the US Attorney's Office reported:

 "...agents located 10,000 pink fentanyl-laced pills in a child’s Hello Kitty bag.  Inside the closet, there were another 2,000 fentanyl-laced pills, a digital scale, and loaded Glock firearm, which previously had been reported stolen. During a search of the garage, agents located another 1,500 fentanyl pills, 3 digital scales and other evidence of drug distribution."

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The raid on Gaspar's home also netted drugs, a weapon tied to a pair of shootings in the Yakima Valley, and a fully loaded "ghost" gun.  Gaspar has plead guilty, he will be sentenced in July.