Swinomish Police make a big drug bust

Officers from the Swinomish Police Department led a multi-agency team that took down a large illegal drug operation at a home on Second Street in Swinomish Village.

Police Chief Rick Balam said that because serving the search warrant on that house was considered a “high risk entry,” agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshal’s Office, federal and state corrections departments, Skagit County Sheriff’s and the U.S. Border Patrol drug canine all assisted.

Officers found very large amounts of heroin as well as methamphetamine, prescription narcotics, cash and drug paraphernalia. In total, four people were arrested on narcotics trafficking charges, including two women and a man, who were at the home when it was raided at about 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Another man, also a suspect in the case, was arrested shortly before the raid, Chief Balam said, when he was seen driving on Reservation Road.

The four people arrested are all Swinomish residents. Balam said investigators are searching for more suspects who are not Swinomish.

Chief Balam said the search warrant and arrests came after a lengthy investigation. Heroin, he said, has become a huge problem in the western Skagit County region. “The heroin issue is regional wide, and it’s all over this area,” he said.

Burglaries, car prowls, shop lifting cases and other thefts throughout the county have been on the rise and can be tied indirectly to drug operations like the one taken down at Swinomish. “They’re indirectly connected to thefts to support drug habits,” he said.