A Mexican national who federal authorities say is a leader in an international drug trafficking organization was indicted Wednesday, Oct. 11, on charges related to a methamphetamine lab discovered in Hesperia.

Adrian Ulises Garcia-Ruiz, 37, was arrested Sept. 20 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and is being transported for arraignment in Riverside.

Garcia-Ruiz, a native of Michoacán, Mexico, supplied liquid methamphetamine that was turned into crystal meth, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Garcia-Ruiz and an alleged co-conspirator, Carlos Miguel Gallardo-Valdovinos, were both charged in the indictment with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it, and distribute methamphetamine; and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The mandatory minimum sentence if convicted is 10 years in federal prison, with a maximum of life.

An affidavit written by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent that was attached to the criminal complaint described as many as seven co-conspirators.

From late 2013 to late 2014, agents used surveillance and intercepted telephone conversations and emails — some containing coded language — to build a case, the affidavit said.

They saw a man, identified only as “Co-conspirator 1,” purchase two 1-gallon cans of acetone at three different hardware stores — spreading out the purchases to avoid the requirement to report the sale of large quantities of the degreaser that is used to recrystalize liquid meth, the agent wrote.

Liquid meth is popular among drug traffickers because it can be concealed in windshield-washer reservoirs, false gas tanks and car batteries, the agent wrote.

The evidence led agents in May 2014 to search a home in the 10700 block of Locust Avenue in Hesperia, where, according to the affidavit, they found 6 gallons of liquid meth, 10 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and $60,000 in cash.

Garcia-Ruiz had previously been placed on a list by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force of those who participate in the “command and control” of the most prolific international drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, the news release said.

In March 2010, Garcia-Ruiz was caught illegally entering the United States near Naco, Arizona, according to a federal document. He was sentenced to the time he had already served in jail.

“The fine is waived because of the defendant’s inability to pay,” the document said.