SEATTLE — A man was indicted in a Seattle federal court Wednesday after almost 100 pounds of drugs and multiple firearms were found in Tacoma hotel rooms he was living in.
Cesar Leonel Contreras-Arias, 43, faces three felony charges, including unlawful possession of firearms, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He will be arraigned next week.
“This defendant was being sought on a Washington Department of Corrections warrant for escape, when he was found to have multi-pound quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman in a release. “Equally concerning was his possession of firearms – many of them reported stolen from across the Puget Sound region. Prosecuting armed drug traffickers remains a top priority for federal law enforcement.”
According to court records, Contreras-Arias was arrested Feb. 2 outside a Clarion Inn in Tacoma on Tacoma Mall Boulevard. Law enforcement had suspicion he had been living in and dealing drugs out of the hotel for around a year. When contacted by officers, he attempted to flee and crashed his car into a police vehicle in the parking lot.
Upon a search of Contreras-Arias, officers found $7,000 in cash, multiple cell phones, and three room keys to the Clarion Inn, court documents say. A handgun was also found in the defendant's vehicle, which had been reported stolen out of Grays Harbor County.
When the hotel rooms Contreras-Arias had keys to were searched, 90 pounds of methamphetamine and five pounds of fentanyl powder were recovered. Eleven passports were also found, as well as four firearms. A later search of a storage unit rented by Contreras-Arias found additional firearms.
The defendant is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a 2016 conviction out of Benton County.
Contreras-Arias faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and could be sentenced to as much as a life sentence.
