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AVON, Ind. -- Federal prosecutors announced the bust of a Mexican drug cartel accused of moving large amounts of meth and cocaine through Hendricks County.

The criminal indictment targeting 17 suspects was filed in January until finally being unsealed this week.

Prosecutors say the drug cartel operated out of Avon for more than a year before being busted last year as part of a nationwide drug trafficking investigation.

One of the accused drug dealers freely admitted his crimes to FOX59.

“Yeah I mean it just happened,” said suspect Roberto Macias.

When you think Mexican cartels, Avon likely doesn’t often come to mind, but Roberto Macias admitted to storing 21 pounds of meth in his Avon home last year before being caught.

“I do (feel bad about it) because I messed up my whole life. I got a record now,” said Macias.

According to court records, 29 pounds of meth were driven to Avon in November 2015 and 30 kilos of cocaine came in days later. Another shipment of meth was made in December 2015 and then again in March and May of 2016 when 60 pounds of meth arrived in Avon.

The drug deals often went down in public places like a Super Target parking lot in Avon. The alleged ring leader locally was Rafael Rojas Reyes. Macias says he was just a low-level courier.

“At the beginning it sounded like I was the boss, but I was nobody,” said Macias.

The drug bust has ties all over the country. Prosecutors claim the operation was directed out of Mexico, with cocaine acquired mainly from California and meth from Arizona. Those drugs then wound up in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, Ohio and Indiana.

For his part, Macias denied knowing how large that network really was.

“It’s connected to a cartel. I didn’t know that. I was helping my cousin out holding it for 3 days,” said Macias.

Prosecutors say some of the suspects are facing decades in prison, but Macias says he's expecting to serve a 5-year sentence when he is sentenced later this year.