Las Cruces woman pleads guilty to meth trafficking

LAS CRUCES — A Las Cruces woman pleaded guilty on Feb. 10 in federal court to trafficking methamphetamine following a traffic stop between Las Cruces and Anthony in May.

Ivory Hernandez, 43, faces anywhere from five to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $5 million and four years of supervised release, according to the plea agreement.

According to a criminal complaint, an FBI task force had been investigating Hernandez on suspicions of trafficking in stolen vehicles, firearms and narcotics, in tandem with the Doña Ana Metro Narcotics unit. On May 7, 2025, the agency received a tip that Hernandez had picked up a supply of methamphetamine in Anthony, N.M., with plans to distribute it in Las Cruces, the complaint stated.

Investigators surveilling Interstate 10 spotted Hernandez’s vehicle between the two cities and a Las Cruces police officer who works with the FBI task force conducted a traffic stop during which the officer said she delayed coming to a full stop and appeared to be moving around in the car as if hiding items. A police dog trained to detect methamphetamine alerted to the presence of drugs, after which police recovered over 40 grams of pure methamphetamine, drug packaging and weighing materials, at which point Hernandez allegedly admitted to transporting the drugs with plans to distribute them.

In 2014, a local grand jury indicted Hernandez for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, but prosecutors later dismissed the charges, according to court records.

The highly addictive synthetic stimulant is connected to catastrophic long-term health effects, including tooth decay, loss of cognitive function, heart failure and diseases stemming from shared injection equipment and sexual activity, according to the National Institutes of Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rated methamphetamine the second-most common drug involved in fatal overdoses, particularly when combined with heroin or fentanyl.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison announced Hernandez’s guilty plea on Friday. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Aragon Martinez as part of Homeland Security Task Force initiative.

Algernon D’Ammassa is the Journal’s southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.