Four individuals have been federally charged in connection with a drug trafficking conspiracy involving more than 20 pounds of cocaine, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. The lead defendant, Luis Donaldo Galeana Garcia, a 29-year-old Mexican citizen living in Marysville, was ordered detained after a magistrate judge determined he posed both a flight risk and a danger to the community.
The defendants were identified last summer as possible members of a drug trafficking organization. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents initially recognized Galeana Garcia as a significant distributor of illegal drugs in western Washington State. By September 2025, law enforcement learned that Galeana Garcia planned to exchange about 20 pounds of cocaine for 15 pounds of methamphetamine and $155,000. Three others allegedly participated in the exchange: Juan Carlos Garnica Pacheco, 33, from Everett; Lorena Esquivel, 35; and Dustin Ray Binion, 27—both from Bellingham.
Law enforcement intervened during the attempted drug exchange. Galeana Garcia and Garnica Pacheco left behind their vehicle at the scene. Authorities seized multiple vehicles and executed court-authorized search warrants that led to the discovery of over 10 kilograms of cocaine and a loaded 9mm firearm inside one car’s center console. Subsequent searches at the defendants’ residences uncovered additional firearms and ammunition for semiautomatic weapons belonging to Galeana Garcia and Garnica Pacheco. This evidence was presented before Magistrate Judge Kate Vaughan who then ordered Galeana Garcia’s detention.
Because of the large quantity of narcotics involved, each defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison if convicted.
“The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” according to information released by authorities.
These arrests are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative created under Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF brings together various federal agencies—including Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS-Criminal Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard Investigative Service—and is led by prosecution from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Homeland Security Investigations leads this case with support from DEA, FBI and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Vincent T. Lombardi is prosecuting.
