Activity began late Wednesday in Haymarket and continued into Thursday as agents secured the site and made related arrests.
HAYMARKET, VA — The FBI’s Washington Field Office carried out court-authorized law enforcement activity at a chicken farm along James Madison Highway beginning late Wednesday and continuing Thursday, drawing dozens of agents, police divers and heavy equipment to the property while the scene remained closed to the public.
Authorities said the operation is part of an ongoing federal investigation and emphasized there was no broader threat beyond the farm. Prince William County police described the situation as contained to the property and warned residents to expect a heavy law enforcement presence. The activity followed a months-long probe that has already produced several arrests tied to alleged drug distribution and firearms trafficking. Federal officials have not detailed what agents searched for on the grounds, and they declined to discuss evidence recovered at the site.
The search centered on the Rancho Los Cerritos farm — also referred to by local police as Ranchero El Cerritto — near the 4200 block of James Madison Highway on the north side of Haymarket. Activity began late Wednesday and resumed Thursday morning with agents spread across fields and outbuildings. A diver entered an icy pond on the property as crews worked nearby. By midafternoon Thursday, county officers directed traffic in and out of the driveway as federal vehicles moved equipment onto the site. Reporters who approached were turned away by agents who said the area was secured. “This is a secured scene,” one agent told a journalist at the gate.
According to a federal criminal complaint affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, the broader investigation stretches back to July 2024 and focuses on suspected cocaine distribution and illegal gun sales in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The affidavit names several people arrested beginning Wednesday morning, including Jorge Steve Zepeda Irias, Jorge Manuel Romero, Oscar Raquel Cuellar Macua, Evelyn Esmeralda Villatoro and Oscar Vladimir Padilla Portillo. Prosecutors accuse Cuellar, Villatoro and Portillo of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. The filing alleges Zepeda served as a primary seller during the probe and, over time, sold pistols, rifles and a shotgun as well as cocaine and fentanyl to a confidential source. In one exchange described in the affidavit, Zepeda allegedly claimed he previously sold as many as five guns a week to MS-13 members. Court records state that approximately four kilograms of cocaine were recovered from a vehicle after coordinated arrests in the District.
The affidavit outlines multiple controlled buys in Virginia and D.C., including transactions on the Haymarket ranch and in Georgetown, where a kilogram-level purchase was arranged in a parking lot near 3601 M St. NW, by the well-known stone staircase from “The Exorcist.” Investigators describe a “final takedown” sequence that began Wednesday with Romero’s arrest as he tried to leave the United States for El Salvador. Zepeda, Cuellar and Villatoro were taken into custody in the District during a planned, four-kilogram cocaine sale. As agents closed in, Portillo — identified as driving a second vehicle involved in the deal — allegedly rammed an FBI car while trying to flee before he was stopped and arrested. What role, if any, the farm’s owner might face remains unclear. The affidavit references people who live or work on the property, but not all individuals are charged, and federal officials have not announced charges tied specifically to the site itself.
Neighbors said the search marked the most visible law enforcement activity they have seen on that stretch of Route 15 in years. Drivers slowed to watch as federal trucks rolled through the main gate, and a county animal services vehicle was seen leaving the driveway early Thursday afternoon. The farm, which advertises poultry and hosts cookouts on weekends, sits between commuter routes and newer subdivisions on Haymarket’s outskirts. During the operation, officers asked onlookers to keep clear of the shoulder and told residents there was no active danger beyond the perimeter. The FBI’s Washington Field Office repeated that agents were conducting a court-authorized operation and declined to provide further details.
As of Thursday evening, federal officials had not said what, if anything, was seized from the farm. The FBI did not announce additional arrests at the property. Defendants arrested in the case are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court in the coming days; specific hearing times were not immediately available. Prince William County police said questions about the investigation should be directed to the FBI. The agency maintained a visible presence at the ranch through Thursday as crews finished the day’s search and prepared to return if needed.
Thursday night, the farm entrance remained taped off, with a patrol car idling near the shoulder and ruts in the gravel from passing federal trucks. A light wind kicked across the fields as temperatures hovered below freezing, and tire tracks cut down toward the pond where a diver worked earlier. By dusk, traffic along James Madison Highway had settled, and residents said they were waiting to learn what the search turned up and how it connects to the arrests already on the books.
Federal authorities have not announced when they will release more information. The scene remained secured late Thursday, and the next expected development is an initial court appearance for those arrested or a filing that details the evidence collected at the Haymarket property.
Author note: Last updated Friday, January 23, 2026.