EDITOR’S NOTE: A photograph published online between 11:38 a.m. and 1:51 p.m. Tuesday in connection with this story was taken down when law enforcement corrected its initial statement that it was a photograph of the person who had been arrested. The photo was deleted from the PDN website and Facebook and Twitter posts and was not published in the print edition.
SEQUIM — A several-month-long Drug Enforcement Administration and Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team investigation led to the arrest of a Sequim man accused of trafficking large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine into Clallam County.
While OPNET searched a home in Gales Addition in Port Angeles, federal agents searched a home on Dungeness Bay Boulevard near Sequim — less than 50 yards from a school bus stop — Monday and arrested Daniel Allen Percival, 35.
During the searches, agents detained several people but arrested only Percival and one other person.
Mark Thomas Strong, 51, of Port Angeles was arrested for investigation of possession of controlled substances and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Percival, who was on federal probation for a prior drug trafficking conviction, was arrested after he attempted to hide from law enforcement in the attic of his home, authorities said.
During the search, officials said they found several firearms, just over $14,000 in cash and a small amount of heroin and cocaine.
DEA officials said they could not immediately comment on the case.
Percival was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on two counts of distribution of a controlled substance: heroin and methamphetamine.
He is scheduled to appear in court again April 11 for a preliminary examination.
Court documents said that during a controlled buy in February, Percival said, “I’ve been re-upping every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, through every single body everywhere.”
Percival said he would “go through a pound of crystal a day sometimes,” court records say.
Court documents say Percival would send friends and associates to Los Angeles to buy about 1.5 kilograms of meth or heroin from an unknown source.
“These trips would yield several pounds of both heroin and methamphetamine,” Detective Sgt. John Keegan of OPNET said.
OPNET got the DEA involved because of the amount of drugs believed to be trafficked from out of state, Keegan said.
One person told investigators that while making trips to Los Angeles for Percival, the person took about $22,000 to buy the drugs, court documents say.
Keegan said the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office had received several complaints about suspected drug activity at the home in Gales Addition.
OPNET began working with a source in late December who told investigators of witnessing Percival buying a quarter-pound of heroin and had seen Percival sell drugs out of a Port Angeles home at least 12 times over four days, investigators said.
OPNET began talking to another person in late January who told investigators Percival was one of the person’s sources of drugs, investigators said.
That person called Percival “the boss” of a trafficking operation in the Port Angeles and Sequim areas and said he had supplied that person for more than a year.
That person said Percival sold a half-ounce of methamphetamine for $300 and a half-ounce of heroin for $600, investigators said.
That person also told investigators that people close to Percival would make trips to the Los Angeles area on his behalf to buy methamphetamine and heroin.
That person had been on one of those trips once and drove to an unknown location in Los Angeles with $35,000 to buy the drugs, court papers say.
Percival then paid the person with a half-ounce of methamphetamine and a half-ounce of heroin upon return, court records say.
Another person told investigators that Percival always carried two guns on him — one on each side of his waistband.
That person said he also had more guns and knives hidden throughout the Dungeness Bay Boulevard home, such as under the coffee table, under couch cushions and in a closet.
Percival always kept proceeds from sales in his pocket, wallet or somewhere on his person to minimize the risk of theft, records say.
Percival kept smaller quantities of his drug supply in a safe in a bedroom in the house in Gales Addition and kept larger quantities of his drugs in a large gun safe in another room of the same house, court records say.
Investigators were told Percival had moved back to the home on Dungeness Bay Boulevard in February and OPNET set up surveillance in the area.
In February, OPNET planned a controlled buy from Percival. OPNET gave someone $600 to buy half an ounce of heroin, investigators said.
In March, OPNET and the DEA conducted another controlled buy at the Dungeness Bay Boulevard home for methamphetamine.
Percival previously pleaded guilty in 2009 to a federal charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Percival, among others, distributed about 100 pounds of marijuana every month to a customer and re-distributor in Portland, Ore., from 2004 through about May 2007, court records say.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of supervision.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
