Man Arrested in East Wenatchee After Police Seize Fentanyl, Cash

A man faces drug dealing charges after East Wenatchee Police say they seized more than160 suspected Fentanyl pills and over $3,000 in cash during a traffic stop. 

Officers says saw drug paraphernalia in the vehicle and found the cash and drugs after getting a search warrant. 

East Wenatchee Police Sgt. Karsten Garcia says they're filing for drug dealing charges because of the sheer size of what they seized. 

"One hundred and sixty pills is obviously more than a user amount," said Garcia. "You combine that with the cash in the vehicle along with other things that they discovered, led the officers to believe that this person was not only using but dealing in the pills." 

East Wenatchee Police are still investigating the man they arrested and have not released his name. 

Garcia says there's a high level of drug trafficking in the area which developed during recent times when narcotics were not illegal in Washington. 

"So, now we're kind of in that stage where we're trying to crack down on it again," Garcia said. "But it's just so prevalent that sometimes it feels like you take one step forward and two steps back." 

The arrest and drug seizure started as a traffic stop for an equipment violation at about 9pm Thursday. 

The Washington State Legislature passed a compromise drug possession bill during a special session earlier this year called by Gov. Jay Inslee.

The Washington Supreme Court had struck down the state's felony drug possession law in 2021. The determined the law was unconstitutional because it did not require prosecutors to prove that someone knowingly had the drugs. Washington was the only state in the country without that requirement.