October 15, 2026 - 9:31 am

A man is facing life imprisonment after authorities say he was found with more than 700 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl during a traffic stop Tuesday about 100 miles north of Las Vegas.

Francisco Joel Garcia Farias, 26, has been charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl and one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine, according to a release Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to allegations in the criminal complaint, a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputy conducted a traffic stop of a pickup truck Tuesday driven by Garcia Farias on U.S. Highway 93 near Ash Springs after observing the vehicle traveling above the posted speed limit.

During the stop, a trained narcotics detection K-9 alerted to the presence of suspected controlled substances in the vehicle. A search revealed 13 large storage totes containing numerous vacuum-sealed packages of suspected narcotics, the release said.

Officers recovered 187 packages containing a white crystalline substance weighing a total of 307.22 kilograms, along with 13 brick-shaped packages weighing about 14 kilograms. Field testing of selected samples returned positive results for methamphetamine and fentanyl, respectively.

“HSI is committed to disrupting the criminal networks responsible for moving deadly narcotics into and through our communities,” John A. Condon, executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations, said in the release. “The suspected fentanyl and methamphetamine seized in this case represent an extraordinary threat to public safety.”

If convicted, Garcia Farias faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on each count, followed by five years of supervised release.

Contact Tony Garcia at tgarcia@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307. Follow @TonyGLVNews on X.