Five charged in multi-state drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy
By Amari Saxton
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NEW MEXICO (KOAT) — Five people are being federally charged in a multi-state drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.
Court documents allege that the individuals used the U.S. mail, interstate travel, and electronic financial transactions to facilitate a large-scale methamphetamine and fentanyl distribution operation spanning New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Cesar Antonio Huerta,28, is alleged to have led a Hobbs, New Mexico-based drug trafficking organization that distributed large quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl between at least June 2025 and July 2026. Authorities allege that distribution quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl were shipped through the U.S. mail from Arizona and Southern California to Hobbs, New Mexico, where Huerta and his girlfriend, Mariela Belen Lechuga, 24, redistributed the narcotics and collected drug proceeds.
Investigators allege that Huerta obtained narcotics from Arizona-based supplier Jesus Landeros, 31, who coordinated shipments with the assistance of Marycruz Perez, 34, and Landero’s mother, Josefina Cabrera-Becerra, 59.
The charging documents allege that Landeros supplied Huerta with methamphetamine and fentanyl through a network that relied on parcels mailed from Arizona and California to addresses associated with Huerta. Investigators identified at least 13 suspicious shipments between June and September 2025, including a parcel intercepted by U.S. Postal Inspectors on Sept. 11, 2025, that contained approximately 2.2 kilograms of pure methamphetamine.
Investigators allege that Cabrera mailed the package from Inglewood, California, while postal records, surveillance footage, and recorded jail calls linked Huerta, Lechuga, Landeros and Cabrera to the shipment.
Additional seizures tied to the shipment were identified, including shipments that were intercepted in Florida containing methamphetamine and carfentanil-laced pills, as well as a seizure in California where 5,997 grams of fentanyl and an additional pound of methamphetamine were recovered from Cabrera.
Huerta, Lechuga, Landeros, Perez and Cabrera-Becerra are all charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Huerta is facing an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a firearm was located in his vehicle during a September 2026 traffic stop.
If convicted of the current charges, they each face a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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