The investigation centered on a location that at one point was described by city leaders as a hot spot for crime in Seattle, Little Saigon at 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street. It got so bad, Seattle police parked a mobile police precinct right at the intersection.


The defendants, identified in court documents as Cuong Nguyen and Quyen Tran, were charged with violating the Uniform Controlled Substances Act (fentanyl), trafficking food stamps, and money laundering. The individual's arraignment is set for Dec. 22.

Court documents said the pair worked together to allegedly approach people and offer to give them fentanyl in exchange for the use of their EBT cards to shop for groceries.