SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Marco Antonio Lopez-Guerrero, who was previously extradited from Mexico to the United States, pleaded guilty in federal court on November 12, 2026, to conspiring to import methamphetamine, federal prosecutors announced.
Read the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/mexican-drug-trafficker-pleads-guilty-using-minors-aircraft-smuggle-drugs-united
The guilty plea followed a Homeland Security Task Force investigation, according to the release.
Lopez-Guerrero is from Mexicali, Mexico, officials reported.
The case is Case Number 20-cr-2054-JO, according to the release.
Juvenile Couriers, Ultra-Light Aircraft, and Cross-Border Loads
According to the plea agreement, Lopez-Guerrero led a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization that recruited juvenile girls and young adult women to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States.
Lopez-Guerrero also admitted that his organization flew methamphetamine and fentanyl over the border in ultra-light aircraft, according to the release.
He admitted that his organization smuggled more than 180 kilograms of methamphetamine, 19 kilograms of fentanyl, and two kilograms of heroin into the United States, officials reported.
Lopez-Guerrero also admitted to orchestrating the smuggling of money, guns, and ammunition from the United States to Mexico, according to the release.
One Conspiracy Charge, a Ten-Year Minimum, and a Life Maximum
Lopez-Guerrero pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import methamphetamine, under Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 952, 960, and 963, according to the release.
Get help from someone local. Text HELP to (805) 719-7630 and we'll set up a time to talk that works for you.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, officials reported.
The release also lists Lopez-Guerrero's aliases as "Chapo," "Marcos," "Patron del Meloncillo," and "Marcos NM."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Benjamin is prosecuting the case, according to the release.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Casper contributed significantly to the investigation and prosecution, officials reported.
DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and Border Patrol
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Imperial County Sheriff's Department, and U.S. Border Patrol, El Centro Sector, investigated the case, according to the release.
The investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, officials reported.
The task force 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, according to the release.
What happens next is sentencing on the guilty plea, where Lopez-Guerrero faces the mandatory minimum and maximum stated above, according to the charge summary in the release.
Anyone with information about drug trafficking or related crimes can contact the DEA or their local law enforcement agency, and official updates on this case are published by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.
Sources
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California, Official Press Release, November 12, 2026: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/mexican-drug-trafficker-pleads-guilty-using-minors-aircraft-smuggle-drugs-united