SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A man who dealt drugs out of the Bellingham Walmart encampment has pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking and firearms charges.

Rigoberto Vasquez-Martinez was arrested in August 2023 and found to have what police say was enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of Bellingham.

According to the plea agreement, the 32-year-old Mexican national lived in a fortified structure in the encampment and had armed guards outside of it acting as security. Vasquez-Martinez was arrested following a traffic stop in Oregon with 65,000 fentanyl pills that prosecutors say he had just picked up in California. MyBellinghamNow.com previously reported on the arrest and drug bust.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Gang and Drug Task Force searched his storage unit in Lynwood and found over 5 kilograms of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine. Detectives believe the drugs were destined to be distributed in Bellingham.

A search of his compound in the Walmart encampment later found firearms, more drugs and cash.

Vasquez-Martinez is set to be sentenced on June 11 and faces a mandatory minimum ten years in prison.