Following the 2024 death of a 14-year-old Moses Lake youth, Police and Federal agents began a massive weapons, drug, and crime sweep.

   Operation 11th Hour Nets 42 Arrests

The Moses Lake Police Department announced Thursday, October 8th, a final series of arrests stemming from this 15-month long investigation.

MLPD says they teamed up with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)  for Operation 11th Hour, designed to locate, capture and get dangerous suspects off the streets.

   According to ATF and MLPD the Numbers Were Staggering

The MLPD and ATF released figures from the operation:

“Over the course of the operation, several local, state, and federal agencies joined forces to execute 54 federal search warrants and 37 state search warrants, netting 42 total defendants. Additionally, the following items have been seized: 25 firearms, 9 vehicles, approximately 42lbs of meth, more than 1,000 fentanyl pills, almost 2lbs of fentanyl powder, and more than 2lbs of cocaine.”

Of the 42 suspects were captured, 24 of them facing Federal indictments. During the final phase of Operation 11th Hour, eight simultanioius warrants were served between Moses Lake and Spokane, the following suspects taken into custody:

“Floyd Young, Eutimio De Padua Contreras, Wilmer Garcia-Marquez, Juan Preciado, Juvenal Herrera-Mata, and Cristobal Rios Sostenes.”

They are facing multiple drug and firearms charges.

  Numerous Agencies Participated in the ATF-Led Operation

Besides ATF and the MLPD Street Crimes Unit, the following agencies were also a part of the sweep, according to Police:

“DEA, U.S. Border Patrol, IRS-CI, FBI, Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, Washington State Patrol, U.S. Marshals Service – Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force (PNVOTF), and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET)”

The investigation is expected to have a significant effect on weapons-related drug trafficking not just in Grant County, but numerous other areas of Eastern Washington.