A Mexican national residing in Denair has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison for drug trafficking and other charges.

Francisco Javier Ochoa-Anaya, 49, was sentenced on Thursday to 26 years in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to the feceral court records, Ochoa took possession of a shipment of an estimated 118 pounds of methamphetamine on Sept. 3, 2019.

Ochoa enlisted the aid of co-defendant Victoria Rodriguez to assist him in weighing and packaging the methamphetamine.

On Sept. 5, 2019, gents seized the methamphetamine during a search of Ochoa’s vehicle. In addition, agents seized a cooler stored with the methamphetamine that contained one kilogram of cocaine, five loaded firearms, a bulletproof vest, several high capacity magazines, a substance used to dilute the drugs and a digital scale.

Rodriguez is in custody serving a 30-month sentence.

“Methamphetamine continues to be a scourge in California with devastating consequences to drug users and our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Scott. “Today’s sentence marks an end to this defendant’s long criminal history in the United States and Mexico. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will not waver in our resolve to end the scourge of illegal drugs flooding our neighborhoods.”

This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit, composed of agents from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Stanislaus County Probation, and the Ceres Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen A. Servatius prosecuted the case.