The first of approximately 20 individuals charged with trafficking narcotics in Seattle’s homeless encampments and International District has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. Theodore Nation, 36, has been detained since January 2025. U.S. District Judge Tana Lin noted during sentencing that Nation had sold drugs to “particularly vulnerable and marginalized members of the community.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd commented on the case: “This drug trafficking organization sold addictive substances to some of the most marginalized members of our community – those living in homeless encampments such as ‘The Jungle’ under Interstate 5,” said Floyd. “This defendant made his living feeding the addiction of others making it ever more difficult for them to get out of the danger of homeless encampments.”
W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, stated: “As a redistributor, Mr. Nation had a significant role in the Jungle Drug Trafficking Organization which sold dangerous drugs in the homeless encampments near the International District and I-5. This organization and others like it fuel the fentanyl crisis in the United States with drugs that all too often prove fatal. FBI Seattle remains committed to working with our partners to combat drug trafficking and violent crime in Seattle and across the state of Washington.”
Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge at DEA Seattle Field Division, added: “In Seattle, our fight for a Fentanyl Free America is not abstract — it’s on the streets. The fentanyl powder alone seized from this group contained more than 1.7 million potentially lethal doses. Mr. Nation trafficked fentanyl and other deadly drugs in and around our homeless encampments and preyed on the most vulnerable in our community. The DEA, alongside our federal and local partners, is committed to using every enforcement tool at our disposal to shut down fentanyl supply chains, protect public safety, and save lives in Seattle and across the nation.”
The investigation began in November 2023 through cooperation between Seattle Police, FBI, and DEA targeting an organization distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin at locations including homeless encampments near 12th and Jackson Street within Seattle’s International District.
In January 2025’s initial arrests and indictments round—some involving firearms—law enforcement used court-authorized wiretaps to gather evidence while working discreetly amid threats of violence overheard during calls.
Seizures during this operation included 17 firearms along with 23 kilograms of suspected fentanyl powder.
A subsequent phase led to further indictments and arrests by late May 2025; just March alone saw law enforcement confiscate large quantities including about 100 pounds of methamphetamine, over 111 kilograms of cocaine, nearly 19 kilograms of fentanyl powder (equaling more than one million potential lethal doses), approximately a quarter-million fentanyl pills as well as four kilograms of heroin—with an estimated street value approaching $3 million.
Prosecutors referenced rising overdose deaths related to fentanyl when requesting a longer sentence for Nation: “According to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, 167 people died of fentanyl-involved overdoses in King County in 2020. By 2023, the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses in King County rose to 1,086… Although the number… peaked in 2023…in 2024 there were still 788…and in 2025 there were still 696 fentanyl-involved overdoses.”
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including FBI; Seattle Police Department; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); King County Sheriff’s Office; Tukwila Police Department; among others.
Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne are prosecuting this case.
This investigation forms part of Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) efforts established under Executive Order 14159 aimed at dismantling criminal cartels operating domestically or abroad through interagency collaboration among several federal entities—including Homeland Security Investigations; FBI; DEA; ATF; US Marshals Service; Postal Inspection Service; IRS-CI; Secret Service; Customs & Border Protection—and led locally by prosecution from United States Attorney’s Office for Western District of Washington.
