A Pacific man, whose drugs are tied to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, was caught with over 50,000 pills whose only active ingredient is carfentanil, a synthetic opioid that is 100 times stronger than fentanyl.

On Sept. 16, a Federal Way Police Department officer, alongside Centralia Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, arrested Nathaniel Washington, of Pacific, after he was found possessing 50,208 carfentanil pills.

According to court documents, investigators discovered that Washington had been flying to Phoenix, Arizona, renting a car and then driving drugs back to Washington state.

Documents state that investigators got hold of Washington’s text messages, which indicated that he was likely selling tens of thousands of fentanyl pills to local dealers. Washington flew to Phoenix on Sept. 15, and then investigators tracked him until he got to Centralia on Sept. 16. Officers performed a traffic stop and subsequently arrested him. Washington is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

According to Federal Way Police Department Cmdr. Kyle Buchanan, the department has an officer who is part of the Valley Narcotics Enforcement Team who acted as a lead investigator in this case. Buchanan said the team is a regional task force that is comprised of officers from regional police departments and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) members.

According to documents, the pills were tested and, after two tests, were flagged as negative for fentanyl.

DEA Seattle Division Special Agent in Charge David Reames said that after the pills were tested at a lab in California, the tests revealed that the pills consisted of carfentanil and acetaminophen — brand name Tylenol — as filler.

“They look like the blue M30s we normally see as fentanyl. So that kind of took us by surprise. We expected it to be fentanyl, sent it to the lab, and then the lab suddenly, unexpectedly told us they were carfentanil instead,” Reames said. “Which is the first time, at least in my recollection, the first time we’ve seen pure carfentanil here in the Seattle Field Division.”

Reames said the DEA Seattle division has seen carfentanil mixed with fentanyl, but this is the first time they have encountered the carfentanil and acetaminophen mixture. According to the DEA, carfentanil is a synthetic opioid developed initially for veterinary use, more specifically to tranquilize large animals such as elephants.

“It is extraordinarily potent and not approved for human use,” the DEA stated. “In fact, it is estimated to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl.”

Reames said these pills look like the common M30 fentanyl pills, so it’s unlikely that when a user buys the carfentanil pills, they will know the difference. Reames said even the tiniest amount of carfentanil could be potentially lethal, so countless lives were saved with the seizure of these drugs.

Reames said, despite fentanyl deaths being down nationwide as well as in King County, fentanyl is still a giant public safety concern. According to the DEA, local law enforcement and first responders have seen an increase in carfentanil in the illicit drug market, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office reports six carfentanil-related overdoses in 2024 and four so far in 2025.

According to the CDC, deaths involving carfentanil increased from 29 deaths from January to June 2023, to 238 deaths from January to June 2024. The DEA stated that carfentanil is a reminder of how the opioid epidemic continues to evolve and introduces new threats at an alarming pace.

Reames said that the DEA tied this batch of seized carfentanil pills to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), so they are now making an effort against that cartel. Reames said the route that starts in Mexico, making their way over the Mexico border, to Arizona and then up to Washington state, is a common route. Reames said the investigation is ongoing, but the DEA suspects these pills were coming to the Seattle and Tacoma area.

“We’re always collecting intelligence, we’re always pulling on every thread. This case, we’re going to pull every thread we can find,” Reames said. “We’re going to find all his associates and see if there’s anyone else he’s involved with who is involved in trafficking. We do that in every case, with every person, and sort of the tapestry this creates is one that hopefully will lead to some success in additional seizures.”

Reames said it’s important for people not to consume any pills sold on the streets. Reames said the DEA has found pills that look like oxycodone, Xanax or Adderal that contain fentanyl.

Reames said cocaine has also been found to contain fentanyl. Reames said the DEA’s theory as to why this phenomenon occurs is that people will get an effect from a dealer’s drugs that contain fentanyl, and then from there, they will want to continue feeling that effect, so they will return. He said this is a marketing strategy for drug dealers.