Truck driver transporting more than 4,700 pounds of methamphetamine sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison (DOJ)

FRESNO, Calif. - Ruben Saenz, 38, of Los Angeles, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 15 years and eight months in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, Saenz played a central role in a Mexico-based drug-trafficking organization responsible for moving thousands of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl into the United States. The FBI dismantled the network in June 2024 during "Operation Toxic Waste."

The organization transported powdered and liquid methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl-both pills and powder-across the border using cars and semitrucks. Drugs were stashed in gas tanks, tucked inside projectors and batteries, and buried among produce. The traffickers tracked their shipments with GPS devices hidden in the loads.

Saenz served as a key player in the group's semitruck operation. As early as February 2023, he purchased vegetable boxes later packed with narcotics destined for transport across the border. On September 22, 2023, he helped facilitate one of the organization's largest shipments: a semitruck loaded with methamphetamine. After meeting the truck with a rented Penske vehicle, Saenz oversaw the transfer of the hidden cargo. Just after midnight, law enforcement stopped the Penske truck he was driving and discovered more than 4,700 pounds of methamphetamine inside.

Saenz pleaded guilty on March 16, 2026.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Inland Regional Narcotics Enforcement Team, the Merced Area Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Los Angeles Strike Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin J. Gilio and Cody S. Chapple are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. The Central Valley HSTF comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.

This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.) a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas as well as identifying wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers. In July 2018, the Justice Department announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the Eastern District of California and nine other federal districts.

Updated September 14, 2026