A Los Angeles truck driver was sentenced Monday to 15 years and eight months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine after authorities found more than 4,700 pounds of the drug in a truck he was driving, federal prosecutors said.

Ruben Saenz, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

Court documents said Saenz played a central role in a Mexico-based drug-trafficking organization that moved thousands of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl into the United States.

The FBI dismantled the network in June 2024 as part of “Operation Toxic Waste.”

Prosecutors said the organization transported powdered and liquid methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl in pill and powder form across the U.S.-Mexico border using cars and semitrucks.

The drugs were concealed in gas tanks, projectors, batteries, and shipments of produce, according to court documents. Traffickers also used GPS devices hidden in loads to track shipments.

Saenz was a key participant in the organization’s semitruck operation, prosecutors said. As early as February 2023, he purchased vegetable boxes that were later packed with narcotics for transportation across the border.

On Sept. 22, 2023, Saenz helped facilitate one of the organization’s largest shipments, involving a semitruck loaded with methamphetamine, court documents said.

Saenz met the semitruck with a rented Penske vehicle and oversaw the transfer of the concealed cargo, according to prosecutors.

Shortly after midnight, law enforcement stopped the Penske truck Saenz was driving and discovered more than 4,700 pounds of methamphetamine inside.

Saenz pleaded guilty March 16 to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

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