The leader of a large drug trafficking group with ties to California and Mexico, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.

Ediberto Asevez Santillano, 37, of Renton, was arrested in August 2015 with two kilos of methamphetamine in his bedroom and more than $17,000 in cash in his residence. During the course of the investigation law enforcement seized more than 29 pounds of meth, more than 18 pounds of heroin, six pounds of cocaine, approximately $178,000 in cash and 16 firearms, including five assault rifles.

At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman said, “You brought serious drugs into this country…. Your whole family has suffered because of this.”

The investigation involved court authorized wire-taps and extensive surveillance of members of the criminal group. When law enforcement moved in to make arrests they served search warrants on 17 residences, three storage facilities and more than a dozen vehicles tied to the criminal group. Search warrants were executed in: Auburn, Bellevue, SeaTac, Seattle, Tukwila, Renton, Kent, Port Orchard, and Everett. In all, 22 defendants were charged in the case.

The searches and arrests involved agents and officers from the Federal Way Police Department, as well as Homeland Security Investigations – Seattle, Port of Seattle Police Department, Washington State Patrol, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Snohomish Regional Drug And Gang Task Force, King County Sheriff’s Office, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, Lynnwood Police Department, Kent Police Department, Renton Police Department, Auburn Police Department, Tukwila Police Department, and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vince Lombardi and Thomas Woods are prosecuting the case.