Five Mexican nationals were indicted on federal drug trafficking and firearms charges this week after authorities found a clandestine meth lab in Northern California, seizing nearly 3,000 pounds of the drug, officials said.
According to the Department of Justice, a federal grand jury indicted Luis Reyna Carrillo, 33; Mariana Vanessa Mendoza Camacho, 33; Juan Jesus Manriquez Diaz, 31; Alvaro Rosales, 44; and Manuel Juan Madrid Perez, 38, on Thursday for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, as well as multiple drug trafficking and gun offenses.
Carrillo and his wife, Camacho, arrived in the United States in March 2021 and received a summons to appear in court at a later date. Diaz was deported from the United States in 2018, while Rosales was removed in 2024.
According to court filings, in October 2025, law enforcement officers conducted an investigation into an organization suspected of manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in a remote area of Calaveras County.
Carrillo and his friends were identified by investigators as part of a Calaveras County narcotics trafficking operation that manufactured and distributed methamphetamines.
The investigation concluded on February 27, 2026, when different agencies executed search warrants at three places reportedly associated with Carrillo and his associates: Valley Springs, Turlock, and Modesto.
During the searches, detectives located a clandestine methamphetamine lab in Calaveras County, where they recovered roughly 1,430 pounds of methamphetamine and 1,270 pounds of probable methamphetamine that had been partially processed.
Authorities also searched two more properties in Stanislaus County connected to Carrillo and his pals. Agents confiscated an additional 300 pounds of methamphetamine prepared for distribution, as well as nine weapons, magazines, and rounds of ammunition from a Turlock home.
In Modesto, agents seized two pounds of methamphetamine, 107 pounds of processed marijuana, 1,900 marijuana plants, and three firearms.
According to the DOJ, Carrillo and Diaz are both forbidden from carrying firearms and ammunition because they are illegal aliens, and Perez is also prohibited owing to prior criminal convictions.
Carrillo, Camacho, Diaz, Rosales, and Perez were all charged with conspiracy to make and distribute methamphetamine, as well as possession with intent to distribute.
Carrillo, Diaz, and Perez also face additional counts for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Carrillo was also charged with illegally holding a firearm as a noncitizen, while Diaz is suspected of unlawfully possessing ammunition.
Perez is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm because of previous offenses.
If convicted of narcotics trafficking, Carrillo, Camacho, Diaz, Rosales, and Perez face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and up to life in prison, as well as fines of up to $10 million, according to federal prosecutors.
If Carrillo, Diaz, and Perez are convicted of gun-related offenses, they may face further penalties.
Perez also risks harsher sanctions because of previous felony offenses.
A judge would set the final punishment based on federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory circumstances.