The 34-year-old leader of a widely spread drug distribution network was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after law enforcement cracked down on activity in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District and nearby homeless camps, dubbed “The Jungle.”
Octavio Salazar Palma of Federal Way was arrested in May 2025 after a lengthy wiretap investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
“Led by his own greed, Mr. Salazar Palma piloted an interstate conspiracy to distribute obscene and lethal amounts of dangerous drugs through the International District and homeless encampments in Seattle,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “No amount of profit can justify the cost of putting members of our own community at such a risk.”
Law enforcement seizes nearly $3 million in drugs in a single month
In March 2025 alone, law enforcement seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin during the investigation. The DOJ placed the street value of the narcotics at nearly $3 million…