The leader of a drug trafficking organization in Washington was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 10 years in prison. Joel Adrian Valencia Rosas (28), of Lakewood, advertised on social media sites recruiting people to work as drug couriers.
A Lengthy Investigation Uncovered Evidence of Importing and Distributing Drugs.
Cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana was trafficked to states on the East Coast and throughout Washington. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and law enforcement agencies seized almost 52 kilos of cocaine, more than 23 kilos of fentanyl pills, and 131 kilos of marijuana. Another drug shipment seized by law enforcement in a June 2023 traffic stop netted 200,000 fentanyl pills that were hidden in the vehicle
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The Defendant Used Snapchat and Instagram to Attract and Entice Workers.
“The defendants in this case are all young – 18-28 years old. Mr. Valencia Rosas, the ringleader of this trafficking group, actively enticed young people to join his criminal enterprise,” said U.S. Attorney Tess M. Gorman. “On social media he not only posted the drugs available for sale and their prices, he also attempted to portray the drug trafficking lifestyle as glamorous and lucrative, posting pictures of himself with firearms, flashy vehicles, and cash. In reality, drug trafficking leaves destruction in its wake.”
Valencia Rosas Has Been in Custody Since He Was Arrested in December 2023.
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“Valencia Rosas was so successful that he could not traffic the drugs without bringing others into his criminal orbit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Marci Ellsworth wrote to the court. “He could not move the hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash drug proceeds from Ohio and Georgia without more people, driving cash back to him or flying with it stuffed into their bags… none of those codefendants made money from their involvement in the DTO. Only Valencia Rosas made money, off the backs of his codefendants.”

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Valencia Rosas has been dealing drugs since 2018. In his social media posts he talked about how much money he would pay people to work for him. He continued posting until he was apprehended in 2023.
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