Federal prosecutors say a 34-year-old New Mexico man kept a drug trafficking operation running in the United States even while he was locked up in a Mexican prison on drug charges.
This week, authorities announced criminal charges against Felix Anthony Salazar III, along with indictments against several accomplices already in custody. Salazar turned himself in to federal agents at an international port of entry in El Paso late last week, shortly after his release from the Mexican prison.
The investigation dates back to September 2025, when a New Mexico task force began looking into a group allegedly moving methamphetamine and fentanyl smuggled across the border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Prosecutors say Salazar directed the group’s activities from behind bars in Mexico. In the first case, he allegedly arranged the sale and delivery of one kilogram of meth in September 2025. According to the indictment, 28-year-old Yadira Lizett Lizcano drove a 16-year-old boy, who served as the delivery driver, to hand the drugs to an undercover agent. The agent paid $3,800 for the package.
Less than two weeks later, investigators arranged a second controlled buy. Salazar is accused of again coordinating a sale, this time of half a kilogram of meth for $1,800. Prosecutors say he had 36-year-olds Moses Andrew Gonzales and Martha Janeth Grijalva Fierro make the delivery to the undercover agent.
A week after that, a third deal was set up in which Salazar allegedly sold agents a package of meth and fentanyl pills for $2,000. In that transaction, 31-year-old Suleima Eidali Miranda is accused of directing undercover agents to a house where the sale took place.
All of the named individuals have since been arrested and face various drug conspiracy charges.
