Lorenzo Saenz, Methamphetamine Trafficking, New Mexico 2015

Thirty-four individuals are facing federal and tribal drug charges as the result of an 18-month multi-agency investigation spearheaded by the DEA and BIA into methamphetamine trafficking on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico. Eighteen defendants, including five members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe and thirteen non-Natives are charged in six indictments and a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in November and December 2015.

Sixteen other members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe are charged in tribal criminal complaints approved by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Court. The investigation leading to the federal and tribal charges was initiated in May 2014 in response to an increase in violent crime on the Mescalero Apache Reservation perpetrated by methamphetamine users.

The investigation initially targeted a drug trafficking organization allegedly led by Lorenzo Saenz, a member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, which distributed methamphetamine within the Reservation. It later expanded to include two other drug trafficking organizations in southeastern New Mexico that allegedly served as sources of supply for the methamphetamine distributed within the Reservation.

In August 2014, the investigation was designated as part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, which combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. The investigation is one of the first OCDETF investigations to utilize electronic surveillance (wiretaps) in Indian Country. More than ten kilograms of methamphetamine were seized during the course of the investigation.

“Methamphetamine has a disproportionate devastating impact on tribal communities, accounting for up to 40% of violent crime on reservations,” said District of New Mexico U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez. “This investigation is an example of the Justice Department’s commitment to working with Tribal Governments to improve the safety of Native communities and increase awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine use.”

Saenz and four other members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe are charged in four federal indictments with distributing methamphetamine within the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Saenz and a co-defendant are alleged to have participated in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy during which they sold methamphetamine to undercover agents on multiple occasions.

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