Five people are facing federal drug-trafficking charges after investigators say an American citizen locked up in a Ciudad Juarez prison coordinated methamphetamine and fentanyl sales across southern New Mexico, using couriers who allegedly included a 16-year-old passenger in one of the deals. The man accused of running the operation from behind bars, 34-year-old Felix Anthony Salazar III, surrendered to law enforcement Sunday night after crossing the border from Mexico into the United States.
According to KVIA, the case grew out of an investigation by the FBI, Las Cruces/Dona Ana County Metro Narcotics and Homeland Security Investigations into an organization suspected of moving methamphetamine and fentanyl from Ciudad Juarez into southern New Mexico. Authorities began investigating the alleged organization in June 2025, and prosecutors say Salazar was identified as the man coordinating drug transactions with people in southern New Mexico from his incarceration in Juarez, as reported by KTSM 9 News.
Court documents cited by the station describe three undercover transactions arranged by Salazar over the following months. The first came on Sept. 5, 2025, when he allegedly arranged for an undercover agent to buy about one kilogram of methamphetamine for $3,800 in Anthony, New Mexico. Investigators allege that 28-year-old Yadira Lizett Cano, of El Paso, drove to that meeting with a 16-year-old passenger, who allegedly delivered the methamphetamine to the agent and collected the payment — conduct investigators say shows Cano knowingly used the juvenile to facilitate the sale. Lab tests on the Sept. 5 packages confirmed they contained 973 grams of pure methamphetamine.
A Second Deal in Sunland Park
Twelve days later, on Sept. 17, 2025, Salazar allegedly arranged another transaction, this time for half a kilogram of methamphetamine priced at $1,800 in Sunland Park. Two more El Paso residents, 36-year-old Moses Andrew Gonzales and 36-year-old Martha Janeth Grijalva Fierro, both also 36, arrived together for that meeting, with Gonzales allegedly delivering the drugs to the undercover agent. Investigators say communications between Salazar and Grijalva Fierro were cited as evidence linking her to the arrangement. Lab tests on that package confirmed 468 grams of pure methamphetamine.
A third deal followed weeks later in Las Cruces. On Oct. 24, 2025, Salazar allegedly arranged a transaction involving both methamphetamine and fentanyl pills, with 31-year-old Suleima Eidali Miranda accused of directing the undercover agent to a residence and delivering the drugs in exchange for $2,000. Laboratory testing on those packages, per court documents, found roughly 984 grams of pure methamphetamine and 251 grams of fentanyl.
Charges and Custody
Prosecutors say Salazar, Cano, Gonzales, Grijalva Fierro and Miranda are all charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Gonzales and Grijalva Fierro face charges of distributing methamphetamine, while Salazar and Miranda are additionally charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, and Miranda faces further charges tied to distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl. Cano also faces charges of distributing methamphetamine and using a juvenile in a drug trafficking operation, according to the station's report. All five defendants have been arrested and are in federal custody.
The case adds to a long history of federal drug-enforcement activity along the border region, though historical enforcement data does not establish any direct connection to this investigation. A 2023 report from the Drug Enforcement Administration noted that its El Paso Division had opened 114 investigations in a single reporting period, leading to 235 arrests and the seizure of nearly 2 million fentanyl pills, 87 pounds of fentanyl powder and 974 pounds of methamphetamine. The scale underscores the kind of trafficking networks federal agents in the region have targeted for years, independent of this specific case.
