Joint Operation Targets Las Cruces Based Drug Trafficking Organization

ALBUQUERQUE – This week, agents from the FBI and the Las Cruces/Dona Ana County Metro Narcotics Agency executed search warrants at the Imperial Sky Motel on West Picacho Avenue and other locations throughout Las Cruces as part of an ongoing operation targeting a Las Cruces based drug trafficking organization. During the operation, agents seized fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and multiple stolen firearms.

The federal search warrants were conducted in conjunction with four other New Mexico state search warrants executed by the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Las Cruces Police Department, and New Mexico State Police at the Coachlight Motel Inn & RV on Motel Boulevard in Las Cruces. As a result of the operations, five people were arrested on state charges and one person was arrested on federal charges.

The search warrants were conducted as a follow-on operation after a similar joint operation occurred at motels located on West Picacho Avenue in March 2024.

U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez, Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, and Chief Jeremy Story of the Las Cruces Police Department, announced the results of a coordinated enforcement operation in Las Cruces today.

The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case in collaboration with the Las Cruces Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Armijo is assisting with the investigation.

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