Las Cruces Brothers Get Combined 26 Years After Guns Found Beside Fentanyl Stash

Two brothers from Las Cruces are heading to federal prison for more than a decade each after investigators found loaded firearms stashed alongside fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine inside their home — a case that also involved a school-bus-dodging car chase before one of them surrendered nearly a week later. Eddie Linarez, 32, was sentenced to 168 months, or 14 years, in prison, while his brother, 28-year-old Nathan Quintana, received 147 months, about 12 years and three months.

The case traces back to March 7, 2024, when federal and local agents executed a search warrant at the brothers' home, according to KVIA ABC 7. Agents first searched Linarez's truck in the driveway, where they seized 58 net grams of pure methamphetamine, 88.6 net grams of fentanyl, and 31.5 net grams of cocaine packed inside a backpack, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico. That same backpack also held a loaded gun and $7,000 in cash, the station reported.

Inside the residence, agents found more narcotics in a bedroom closet — 120 net grams of fentanyl and 735.9 net grams of cocaine — along with a digital scale carrying narcotics residue and another $2,000 in cash elsewhere in the home, KVIA reported, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office. Investigators also recovered five firearms in Quintana's bedroom, including loaded rifles and handguns tucked under the bed. One handgun sat on a windowsill, positioned next to a bag of fentanyl, according to federal prosecutors.

A School Bus, a High-Speed Chase and a Six-Day Manhunt

The case didn't end with that first search. When federal and local agents returned nearly a year later to execute a second search warrant on March 6, 2025, Linarez approached the home and drove away at a high rate of speed as agents tried to stop him, KVIA reported. During the pursuit, he drove around a stopped school bus with its stop-arm extended and entered oncoming traffic, according to 96.3 KKOB. Agents ultimately called off the chase after losing sight of him, and Linarez remained at large until he surrendered to law enforcement six days later.

Both brothers pleaded guilty to a series of federal drug and firearms charges. Linarez pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, along with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, plus possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Quintana pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and his own firearm-in-furtherance charge, per KVIA's reporting.

Why the Gun Charge Adds Years Neither Brother Can Avoid

That firearm charge is what stretched both sentences well beyond what the drug counts alone would have carried. Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime carries a mandatory minimum of five years, and that time must run consecutively — not concurrently — with whatever sentence is imposed for the underlying drug offenses, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Federal judges have no discretion to stack that time on top of anything else; the law simply requires it. Once both brothers finish their prison terms, each will serve three years of supervised release, and because there's no parole in the federal system, they'll serve their full sentences behind bars.

Part of a Wider Crackdown on Fentanyl in Doña Ana County

The investigation was carried out by the Las Cruces/Doña Ana County Metro Narcotics Agency working alongside the FBI. The Metro Narcotics unit is a combined task force drawing investigators from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office and the New Mexico State Police, according to the City of Las Cruces.

The case lands amid a documented public-health crisis tied to synthetic opioids in the region. Public health assessments presented to local leaders earlier this month found that fentanyl was responsible for 46 percent of all fatal drug overdoses in Doña Ana County, making it the leading cause of fatal overdoses in the jurisdiction, per Citizen Portal. That backdrop has fueled a string of joint federal-local prosecutions targeting armed drug dealers across the city.

In a similar case last year, 29-year-old Las Cruces resident Joe Angel Sandoval was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after an FBI and Metro Narcotics search warrant turned up more than 500 grams of fentanyl pills, three firearms and nearly $140,000 in cash at his home, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Sandoval had admitted to selling fentanyl pills for three to four years. Hoodline has covered enforcement crackdowns tied to a broader gang investigation that cleared 11 drive-by shootings and led to federal charges against six people this month, part of the FBI's nationwide Operation Summer Heat.

Federal prosecutors have not said whether the Linarez and Quintana case connects to a larger regional supply network feeding synthetic opioids into southern New Mexico — a question the U.S. Attorney's Office says remains a continuing focus for its district. For now, both brothers' cases are closed, with each facing more than a decade in a federal prison system that offers no path to early release through parole.