The Narco Blog

40 Years for ‘Güero Menso’: Meth Handed Over at a Richland Hills, Texas, McDonald’s Was Tied to the CJNG, Prosecutors Say — 24 Kilos and a Conversion Lab Turned Up in Reno, Texas

By The Narco Blog · October 6, 2026 · Updated October 6, 2026

Clear plastic bags of crystal methamphetamine in a cardboard box on the concrete floor of a shop, next to a white chest freezer — Methamphetamine found during the Oct. 25, 2022, search of a property in Reno, Texas, according to a factual resume filed in the case. Photo: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas.

A Mexican citizen known as “Güero Menso” has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for arranging the sale of nearly four kilograms of 97%-pure methamphetamine that was handed to an undercover officer at a McDonald’s in Richland Hills, Texas, near Fort Worth. Federal prosecutors in Dallas say the drugs and money in the wider case were linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced the sentence on Oct. 6, 2026.

A $10,000 deal at a McDonald’s

According to the release, Luis Manuel Abarca-Torres pleaded guilty on July 29, 2025, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr imposed the 480-month sentence on Sept. 30.

Court filings say that between June 21 and June 30, 2022, Abarca-Torres arranged to supply an undercover officer four kilograms of meth for $10,000. He told the officer a Dallas-based distributor would call on his behalf and identify him as “Guero.” Co-defendant Adriana Melendez Calvillo then met the officer at the McDonald’s at 7305 Airport Freeway and delivered 3.953 kilograms. She was sentenced in November 2024 to 40 years on drug charges and 20 years on money-laundering charges.

The release says testimony at Melendez’s sentencing hearing linked the case’s drug shipments and proceeds to the CJNG, which the U.S. State Department designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on Feb. 20, 2025.

Two large cylindrical blocks of methamphetamine drying in blue strainers on top of buckets, with a black pot on a burner behind them — Two large blocks of methamphetamine drying on strainers in the middle of the Reno, Texas, shop, according to a factual resume filed in the case. Photo: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas.

A conversion lab in Reno, Texas

Filings tied to another co-defendant, Ignacio Manzo Cardenas, say agents searched a property in Reno, Texas, on Oct. 25, 2022. They found more than 24 kilograms of crystal meth that was 99% pure, plus signs of a conversion lab, with meth in both liquid and crystal form. Prosecutors say drug ledgers found there showed that hundreds of kilograms of meth had come in and gone out of the site, along with records of money deliveries. Manzo Cardenas was sentenced in October 2025 to 440 months.

Side-by-side evidence photos: bags of crystal methamphetamine on a table, and bundles of cash in plastic bags labeled $5,000 and $10,000 — Methamphetamine (left) and cash (right) seized during the investigation, shown with government exhibit stickers. Photo: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas.

12 of 13 defendants sentenced, one still at large

Abarca-Torres is the 12th of 13 defendants sentenced across two related cases, according to the release. One defendant has not been caught. The office says he was held accountable for 396,769 kilograms of “converted drug weight,” a sentencing-guidelines measure that covers meth and heroin and is not the actual amount seized. The DEA’s Dallas Division investigated with help from IRS Criminal Investigation, as part of the Homeland Security Task Force effort. The release does not say where Abarca-Torres lived, and it does not name a lawyer for him.

Sources

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas, “Mexican national sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy as a result of Homeland Security Task Force Investigation,” Oct. 6, 2026
Photos: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas, via the same release (public domain)

Reported Oct. 6, 2026, from the U.S. Justice Department release above. The CJNG link comes from testimony prosecutors describe, and the release gives no more detail about the cartel’s role.