Cartel 2.0: Feds say kingpin ran deadly ring from Facebook Tacoma fugitive accused of leading meth ring extradited from Mexico after ATF-led operation

Oscar Macias disappeared in July 2014, a month after he lost a load of methamphetamine prosecutors claim belonged to a fugitive Washington state drug kingpin. Oscar Macias disappeared in July 2014, a month after he lost a load of methamphetamine prosecutors claim belonged to a fugitive Washington state drug kingpin. Photo: National Center For Missing Persons Photo: National Center For Missing Persons Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Cartel 2.0: Feds say kingpin ran deadly ring from Facebook 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Federal prosecutors claim a Washington state fugitive managed to run a West Coast drug ring from Mexico – via Facebook Messenger.

Having fled the Seattle area for Puerto Vallarta, Jesus “Ricky” Palomera is alleged to have managed the methamphetamine operation using instant messaging services. Investigators suspect Palomera of having a hand in at least two killings, including that of a Los Angeles man who disappeared without a trace two years ago.

Palomera was regarded by his conspirators as a good businessman who provided meth at lower prices than other traffickers, according to investigators’ statements spread across several prosecutions dating back to 2011. One informant told an ATF handler that Palomera’s operation stretched from California to Alaska.

Palomera fled to Mexico in 2012 and remained there until early July, when he was extradited to face a host of charges filed against him at U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Investigators contend Palomera, though absent physically, retained a virtual presence in the drug ring, running it through Facebook and other messaging services.

That extradition came eight months after police arrested a Tacoma man described by investigators as Palomera’s debt collector, Miguel Logan Martinez. Martinez was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for gun and drug offenses stemming from an October traffic stop, though investigators’ statements indicate he had been under investigation for far longer.

“ATF has received information that Martinez was a person upon whom Palomera relied for the collection of debts and distribution of methamphetamine,” a Bureau of Alcohol, Tabaco, Firearms and Explosives special agent said in a sworn statement.

The agent went on to assert the obvious – “drug debt collection often entails the use of firearms and threats or acts of violence.” Agents investigating Palomera claim Oscar Macias lost his life to one such act of violence.

Macias, then 39, was last seen July 20, 2014, a month after he and another man were stopped by police with a shipment of meth prosecutors say belonged to Palomera.

Investigators pursuing Palomera have not accused any of his associates of killing Macias. The father of two is listed as a missing person, though the Los Angeles Police Department homicide unit is investigating his disappearance.

All told, at least 11 people connected to Palomera have recently received stiff prison sentences. Now, federal prosecutors hope to see Palomera belatedly receive the same.

In 2011, ATF agents investigating a drug and weapons trafficking ring were told that men in Tacoma could connect them with grenades and machine guns. Those claims didn’t prove out but investigators were able to buy 18 weapons, including a golden .50-caliber Desert Eagle handgun and several assault rifles. Investigators claim Palomera provided an AR-15 rifle.

An informant was introduced to a purported gun dealer known to investigators only as “Raul.” Investigators claim that that man in turn connected the informant with Javier Hernandez-Godinez, his nephew Jorge Hernandez-Godinez and Palomera.

Writing the court, an ATF agent said Palomera during a November 2011 gun sale described being robbed of a pound of methamphetamine. According to the ATF agent’s statement, Palomera went on to explain how an associate recovered the stolen meth.

“Palomera went to (his partner’s) house to get the drugs back,” the ATF agent said. “In the house, Palomera saw the body of the robber wrapped in plastic bags. (He) told Palomera that he would dump the body in a river.”

Palomera is alleged to have told the undercover agent he could provide him with grenades as well as a rifle-mounted grenade launcher.

According to charging papers, the group’s gun supplier Alicia Lee Robertson claimed she could provide explosives obtained from a man in the military. It doesn’t appear Robertson could good on the boast. The guns she sold had been stolen; she is currently serving a 4-year prison term.

Jorge and Javier Hernandez-Godinez ultimately admitted to gun and methamphetamine offenses, and both are serving federal prison terms. Palomera was charged alongside them, but evaded capture during a 2012 takedown operation and fled.

Palomera managed a group of dealers around Tacoma via Facebook, an undercover ATF agent said in a 2014 affidavit. Palomera is alleged to have used a popular instant messaging application – WhatsApp – to direct deals and court new customers, while receiving payment through money orders.

A federal fugitive, Palomera did little to hide his identity online, the ATF agent said. He posted photos posing with guns and wearing military fatigues.

Records obtained from Facebook showed Palomera used Facebook Messenger to arrange drug deals and debt collections, the ATF agent continued. Those records prompted charges against several stateside members of the purported drug ring.

Lucas Manglona, a chronically homeless Iraq War combat veteran, was stopped with a kilogram of methamphetamine driving north through Yreka, California. Prosecutor’s claim the drugs belonged to Palomera, and that a hit was put out on another man in the car after that fateful June 7, 2014, traffic stop.

It appears that other man was Macias, who disappeared one month later from the El Sereno area of Los Angeles. While prosecutors did not give that missing man’s name, a police blotter published by The Siskiyou Daily News notes that Manglona and Macias were arrested that day. Both men were released.

James Roberts, a Lakewood body shop operator, was running the Pierce County meth dealers when a member of the ring was tortured and killed on Palomera’s orders, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dion said in court papers late last year. The slain man’s name is not noted in court papers; it is not clear whether that man was Macias.

Roberts wasn’t implicated in the killing. He and Manglona, though, were each sentenced to a decade in prison for gun and drug trafficking offenses.

So too was Tisha Janzen, who prosecutors say led Palomera’s operation after he and Roberts had a falling out. At sentencing Janzen apologized to her three children, telling the court that she never wanted them “to go through anything like I went through growing up.”

“I really want to stop the cycle so that their children can have normal, happy and productive lives,” Janzen told the court before receiving the mandatory minimum 10-year sentence in July. “I will miss many of the important events in my children’s lives. …

“I have a lot to make up for.”

Two of Janzen’s children also lost their father to prison for his involvement in the ring. Roosevelt T. Williams was caught with a sawed-off pump shotgun on Dec. 17, 2014 when police raided the Lakewood home he shared with Janzen. A convicted rapist and repeat felon, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison.

Martinez – the man investigators say was a debt collector for Palomera during his self-imposed exile – was arrested Oct. 27 driving an unregistered car near Tacoma Mall. Martinez was carrying nearly $2,300 cash and a .40-caliber pistol, and meth stash worth several thousand dollars.

A month before his arrest federal agents sought and received permission to take DNA samples from Martinez, then claiming he was an active member of Palomera’s drug trafficking organization. Investigators had hoped DNA would link Martinez to a related drug investigation in Port Orchard. Martinez had been identified in September 2014 as having been involved in a drug deal there that resulted in a police chase.

Palomera has been indicted on 17 drug-related counts, the most serious of which carries a mandatory 20-year prison term. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently slated to face a jury early in 2017.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.