Whatcom man suspected of running drug house, selling fentanyl-laced pills and heroin

A Whatcom County man reportedly ran a drug house and was found with hundreds of suspected fentanyl-laced pills and six guns following a months-long investigation by the Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Douglas Earl Sandstrom, 57, into Whatcom County Jail Thursday, Jan. 20, on suspicion of three counts of delivery of a controlled substance (fentanyl), one count of delivery of a controlled substance (heroin), one count of maintaining a drug house, six counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of a stolen firearm and one count of possession of an unlawful firearm.

“This case highlights the strong working relationship and cooperation amongst our regional partners to detect and hold accountable those that bring drugs into our communities,” Undersheriff Doug Chadwick said in a sheriff’s office news release Friday, Jan. 21. “The Whatcom County Gang and Drug Task Force will continue to conduct investigations into the sale and distribution of illicit drugs, which negatively impacts our most vulnerable and our quality of life.

“This arrest is another example of the dangers and willingness of those involved in drug distribution to use firearms and violence to further their illegal activity.”

Detectives reported that during the months-long investigation into a suspected drug house in the 3400 block of Slater Road, Sandstrom sold heroin and suspected fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to a Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force agent on at least four occasions, according to the release.

With the help of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team, the Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force arrested Sandstrom at his house Thursday without incident, according to the release.

Task force detectives, with help from Homeland Security, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Washington State Patrol and a police dog from the Anacortes Police Department, served a search warrant on Sandstrom’s home, according to the release, and located cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, hundreds of suspected fentanyl-laced pills and drug paraphernalia, including scales and packaging materials.

Six guns also were seized during the search, two of which were stolen and one that had an illegal sawed-off short barrel, according to the release.

According to Whatcom County Superior Court records, Sandstrom has previous convictions for controlled substance violations in 2009 in Whatcom County and in 1999 in Island County, making it illegal for him to possess guns.