Hobbsan pleads guilty in drug, weapons case A Hobbs man faces a potential 15-year prison sentence after pleading guilty Wednesday to federal drug and weapons related charges. Louis Garcia, 31, plead guilty at federal court in Las Cruces, to drug trafficking and firearms charges. Garcia entered the guilty plea under a plea agreement that recommends a 15-year prison sentence followed by …

Seven Lea County residents are behind bars on federal narcotics trafficking and money laundering charges as part of a multi-agency investigation led by the DEA into a drug trafficking organization based in Hobbs. The seven residents, four of them Mexican nationals, and a resident of Yuma, Ariz., allegedly imported methamphetamine and cocaine into Lea County from Mexico through Arizona. Those arrested Wednesday include Jose Raul Mendivil-Berrelleza, …