Drug courier staying in Leschi vacation rental receives lengthy prison sentence

A major drug courier using a Leschi home as a base of operations in Seattle was sentenced in late October to 10 years in prison after taking a plea agreement.

Adrian Perez pleaded guilty in July to two counts of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in United States District Court.

Perez transported drugs between Canada and the United States for a major trafficking organization that had been under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since early 2017, according to federal court files. The organization moved MDMA from Canada into the U.S., and cocaine from the U.S. into Canada.

RCMP and Homeland Security agents teamed up for an undercover meeting with members of the drug-trafficking organization (DTO) in San Diego between November 2017 and February 2018, negotiating the sale of nearly 40 pounds of cocaine to the DTO, according to court documents. The cocaine was scheduled to be delivered to a courier in Seattle on March 13.

One of the traffickers met with an undercover Homeland Security agent in Seattle to provide payment for the cocaine, and then gave the agent the phone number of the courier who would pick up the shipment.

A call was made, and Perez met with an undercover agent in a parking lot in the 1500 block of 15th Avenue in Capitol Hill. Perez was arrested after checking the duffel bag full of cocaine and placing it in his GMC Sierra, according to court records.

Perez had been staying in a HomeAway rental property in Leschi since March 10. The homeowner contacted police after finding drugs in the house. Seattle Police executed a search warrant on the property, where officers found 150 pounds of methamphetamine, packaging materials, a vacuum-sealer and $4,000 on March 14.

Homeland Security found an additional 165 pounds of meth in the bed of Perez’s truck two days later, according to court records.

Perez accepted a plea agreement where federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentencing of 120 months in prison on all counts. He was 41 at the time of his arrest, and received sentencing on Oct. 23.

Adrian Perez Plea Agreement by branax2000 on Scribd