A 32-year-old man wanted in King County for his part in an alleged identity theft ring and believed to have fled to Mexico is now being investigated by the Eastside Narcotics Task Force for money laundering and selling heroin through various drug runners in the area.
A confidential informant directed a Redmond Police detective with the task force to Ricardo Ricky Ramacho II in December, stating they’d routinely purchased heroin from the former King County resident through various drug runners, according to an affidavit for search warrant.
Ramacho was charged in 2010 with being a part of an identity theft ring at a Tukwila Wendy’s restaurant and alleged to have conspired with a coworker to use a credit card skimming machine to steal customers’ information and make more than $75,000 in fraudulent purchases. He is believed to have fled to Mexico to avoid the charge and is still wanted on an active King County felony warrant.
Court documents state the task force and Washington State Patrol troopers staged a controlled drug purchase with an alleged runner in Renton, arresting a 27-year-old Renton man, who was found during a search to be in possession of 58 grams of heroin. The task force found more than $44,000 in heroin sales were placed into multiple Wells Fargo accounts for Ramacho by the alleged drug runner from Nov. 30 to when he was arrested less than a month later, according to documents.
The task force served a search warrant for five Wells Fargo bank accounts at the Bellevue Way branch belonging to several individuals. The warrant allowed for the seizure of those accounts based on evidence of being used for laundering drug money. Police report the investigation is ongoing and will more than likely involve federal agencies at some point.