‘Trusted’ Tri-Cities member of Mexican drug group sentenced for rainbow fentanyl

A Tri-Cities drug dealer, the first of four defendants accused of being part of a Mexico-based operation trafficking drugs in the Northwest, was sentenced Thursday to federal prison.

Roberto Martinez-Cabrera of Kennewick was sentenced by U.S. Judge Mary Dimke to 10 years in prison and five years probation for conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

He was arrested after an investigation that included seven purchases of fentanyl or meth by a confidential informant who arranged to buy the drugs through cell phone calls to another defendant in the case, Danny Bernal, who was based in Mexico, according to a court document.

“(Martinez-Cabrera) was an active member of a drug trafficking organization responsible for facilitating the distribution of large quantities of fentanyl-laced pills into the community,” said Brandon Pang, assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Washington, in a court document.

“While not the most culpable compared to other members, the defendant was certainly a trusted member of the operation,” Pang said.

Illicit drugs were flown from the interior of Mexico to a location near the border, where they would be transferred into a semi truck to enter the United States, according to a court document. Couriers then delivered them in Eastern Washington.

Martinez-Cabrera delivered 2,000 rainbow fentanyl pills to the confidential informant on June 28, 2023, and again on Aug. 16, 2023, according to a court document.

A search in May 2024 of his house at a mobile home park at East Columbia Drive in Kennewick, turned up a loaded semi-automatic pistol, a .22 revolver, a box of long rifle high velocity hollow point ammunition and a notebook that appeared to be used as a drug ledger, according to a court document.

Although his only prior criminal conviction was for DUI, his involvement for a year in the drug trafficking organization and possession of guns warranted a 10-year prison sentence, according to Pang.

“... Drugs and guns, individually, pose a threat to the community,” Pang said in a court document. “This is only amplified when the two are combined.”

Both the prosecution and defense attorneys said Martinez-Cabrera, the father of a young child, is expected to be deported once he serves his sentence.

Criminals accused of re-entering U.S.

The Eastern Washington District U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced Thursday that it had charged five men with illegally entering the United States.

All were Mexican nationals with criminal records or pending criminal cases who had previously been removed from the United States at least once.

They included Raul Partida-Farias, 50, who was found by federal officials after he was booked into the Yakima County Jail on suspicion of DUI and possession of a stolen car in Benton County, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and federal court documents.

He has convictions for assault in Benton County Superior Court and as an alien in possession of a gun in Yakima County, according to the Department of Justice.

He had been deported once, it said. Illegal re-entry into the United States after deportation is a criminal offense and is separate from civil immigration enforcement, according to the Eastern Washington U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This story was originally published August 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM.