On a September morning in 2014, DEA agents with search warrants in hand swarmed several properties in Houston. One, in the shadow of Minute Maid Park, belonged to John Nealy Holt.

Holt, 45, was a metal sculptor, and his place on Commerce doubled as studio and residence. According to police, Holt also was known as "Motorcycle John," the head of a drug-dealing network and someone authorities had been after for three years.

That fall day, federal agents and officers from the Houston Police Department recovered 247 grams of meth, 5 grams of marijuana, five stolen motorcycles, 400 pounds of assorted ammunition, a ledger, a stash of body armor and 15 weapons, including semi-automatic rifles, bolt-action rifles, shotguns and 45-caliber pistols.

The evidence would lead – months later – to the arrests of 24 people. All have now pleaded guilty in exchange for lesser sentences, except for Holt. He's scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Feb. 16 in U.S. District Court in Beaumont.

According to the DEA, Holt's gang was trafficking methamphetamine throughout the Houston metro area and in states as far away as Michigan and California. By the time of the raid, they had amassed a fortune worth more than $2.5 million.

Still, the DEA says, Operation Hielo Mexicano -- Mexican Ice -- is far from over.

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The map above will show the location of every meth-related seizure by state troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety by month starting from late 2011 through 2015. Click on the map to begin the time-lapse. Watch as the number of seizures increase through the years. Each dot represents one seizure.

The state of Texas declared war on meth in 2005, when lawmakers placed restrictions on over-the-counter medications used to cook the drug domestically.

The plan worked.

Restrictions created a scarce supply, and death rates due to meth dropped for three consecutive years – but then Mexican cartels stepped in to provide the drug, increasingly hiring Texas gangs to move their products.

Now methamphetamine is being sold on Houston streets at record levels, at $10,000 per kilogram. The drug has been linked to hundreds of deaths in the region and thousands statewide.

Between 2001 and 2003, Harris County reported one meth-related death. Between 2013 and 2015, there were 143.

The chart above illustrates growing methamphetamine-related deaths in Harris County. Click the button in the lower left corner to see deaths statewide. Source: The Texas State Health Department and Harris County Medical Examiner.

Meth has begun to overshadow cocaine as Houston's top drug, and if trends hold, meth-related deaths will surpass cocaine-related deaths statewide.

Most of the methamphetamine available in the U.S. is clandestinely produced in Mexico using chemicals imported from China, said a DEA spokesman The drugs are then smuggled across the border – typically hidden in passenger vehicles or packaged with legitimate goods, like produce.

The DEA spokesman said in Houston alone, the agency has seen a 20 percent increase in meth seizures from 2014 to 2015.

The meth problem is even greater now than in 2005, according to Dr. Jane Maxwell from the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, who testified before the Texas Legislator's Public Health Committee in December 2014.

That's because meth is cheaper and easier to produce than crack cocaine and can be made year-round in a lab, without dependency on a crop, Maxwell said.

"These are chemists in lab coats, working in super labs (in Mexico) and cooking this stuff by the ton," she said.

Methamphetamine and cocaine seizures in pounds by Houston regional law enforcement agencies. Trends begin to show that crystal meth is becoming Houston's choice drug. After 2013, crystal meth use began to surge in Houston, following trends seen in Dallas. In 2015, Houston-area law enforcement agencies seized more than 1,700 pounds of meth. That's a significant increase from the approximate 161 pounds the agencies seized in 2010.

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Holt, his family and his attorney have refused interviews, pending his court case, but before he was Motorcycle John, Holt was a man with a love for art, according to friends.

The native Houstonian began college in 1992 at the University of North Texas in Denton, about 30 minutes north of Fort Worth.

At least one of his metal sculptures, "Balanced Series," can still be found on the university's campus.

At UNT, he pursued a passion he discovered in high school while working in an auto shop – metal sculpting.

"I was entranced," he wrote on the website of his company, Black Whale Metal Works. It was at UNT where he met classmate and fellow artist Quincy Holloway, who bonded quickly with Holt.

"He was like a brother to me. I loved him," Holloway said during a recent phone interview. "He taught me a lot, exposed me to new artists, and he helped me be better than I was."

In college, Holt used meth and marijuana recreationally, Holloway said.

"That was the scene – especially for artists," Holloway said.

Holt had run-ins with police for minor offenses, records show. In 1995, he was arrested in Denton, accused of marijuana possession, and in 1998 and 2003, he was charged with driving while intoxicated.

But mostly, Holt was known for his charisma and artwork, Holloway said.

He liked to make his friends laugh with "Chris Farley"-like antics.

"He could be a big goofball," Holloway said.

Holt graduated with his bachelor's, but by 2002, he had returned to UNT and graduated with a master's in fine arts.

In 2012, nearly 20 years after their college days, Holloway reconnected with Holt on a visit to Houston.

"I hadn't seen him in years. His face was a little aged, but he was still goofy and wide-eyed, kind of like Gary Busey," Holloway said.

Holt showed Holloway his art space, for a metal-sculpting business he founded in 2000.

Holloway thought his old buddy had made it big.

"I'll always consider him a friend, but he's kind of a dumb*** to get mixed up in [drug dealing.]," he said. "I guess a lot can happen in 20 years."

Map reveals the locations of people who died from methamphetamine-related exposures by ZIP code in Harris County. Map created and written by John D. Harden.

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Federal agents say Holt began dealing meth in 2012, but at the time, they didn't know his level of involvement, according to court documents. The connection was made after a series of drug busts nearly 90 miles away in the seatown of Port Arthur.

That's when the DEA launched Operation Hielo Mexicano. The goal was to find the suppliers of the Mexican methamphetamine pouring into Houston.

In September 2012, four members of Holt's crew got the attention of DEA agents, who began tracking their movements as they smuggled meth from California to Port Arthur and Dallas, authorities say.

Eight months later, DEA agents received information that the Port Arthur faction of Holt's team was expecting a shipment of meth from California via the U.S. Postal Service. Law enforcement intercepted the package and arranged for a controlled delivery. They did this several times, while Holt's associates used third parties to retrieve packages and escape involvement.

On several occasions, undercover agents approached Holt, attempting to buy meth, but Holt waved them away. He would either ignore requests or claim he wasn't who buyers thought he was.

Agents would ultimately connect with a man named Joseph Henning, one of Holt's trusted associates. Henning set up a meeting with Holt and an undercover informant on April 2, 2014.

The informant bought four kilograms of meth for $80,000.

The two discussed setting up payment plans through Paypal and that shipments could be delivered through the U.S. Postal Service, with the drugs concealed within metal artworks sculpted by Holt.

Holt was recorded saying that if he had a run-in with police, his bike could top 180 mph and that " ... they're not going to catch me."

From that operation, agents gathered enough evidence to obtain a court-authorized wiretap on Holt's cell phone, and agents began piecing together Holt's network of distributors.

A flow chart of the people accused of involvement in the drug-trafficking ring that operated in Houston, Beaumont and Port Arthur.

Holt's first run-in with police came a few weeks later.

Officers raided an automotive shop run by two of Holt's associates. Moments later, Holt arrived and was detained by Houston police officers before he could make the drug deal with $21,000 on hand, authorities said.

Holt thought he got off with a slap on the wrist.

"I'm happy to be a free dude," he said during an intercepted phone call to a friend. "Oh, yeah, my money got seized. I mean, if it's 10 minutes longer – 15 minutes longer – it would've been bye-bye to me, too. Dude, they got my friends."

Holt wasted no time picking up where he left off, court records show, arranging deals to get a shipment in Dallas the next day.

U.S. attorney Baylor Wortham said it's not uncommon for people to follow the path Holt took, from recreational drug use to dealing.

All it takes, he said, is someone saying, "Hey, if you can help me sell this, you can make a lot of money."

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In March, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Texas returned a four-count indictment against Holt and 23 associates, charging them with conspiracy to distribute meth, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and using the U.S. Postal Service to distribute illegal narcotics.

Wortham said punishments are based on the member's level of involvement in the trafficking.

Some will serve two to three years, while others will be in prison for more than 20, Wortham said.

The charges against Holt could result in him receiving a 20-year sentence or more, Wortham said.

DEA investigators, who asked to remain anonymous because of the ongoing investigations, were hesitant to talk about Holt's case, but are encouraged by the dismantling of his group.

"We're hoping to get a bigger haul next time," he said. "That's been the goal from day one."