<p class="speakable">A fifth defendant has been convicted in a sweeping Minnesota meth trafficking conspiracy tied to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/topic/mexican-cartel-violence" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel</a>, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.</p><p class="speakable">Eric Anthony Rodriguez, 47, was found guilty in U.S. District Court of <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/drugs" rel="noopener" target="_blank">conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine</a> and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine after a six-day trial before Judge Susan R. Nelson.</p><p>Prosecutors said Rodriguez was part of the "Diaz-Aguilar Drug Trafficking Organization," which operated across Minnesota from April 2024 to March 2025.</p><p>The organization moved massive shipments of meth, sometimes hundreds of pounds at a time, into the state, according to prosecutors. The organization was led by Erick Emilio Diaz-Aguilar, 33, who previously pleaded guilty, along with co-defendants Juan Martin Elvira Jr., 36, Edward Gonzalez, 30, and Bruce Michael Orton, 44.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mexico-flies-37-cartel-members-us-under-pressure-from-trump-admin" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>MEXICO FLIES 37 CARTEL MEMBERS TO US UNDER PRESSURE FROM TRUMP ADMIN</strong></a></p><p>During a nearly yearlong investigation, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime/police-and-law-enforcement" rel="noopener" target="_blank">law enforcement seized</a> about 60 pounds of methamphetamine, 1,500 fentanyl pills and more than $20,000 in cash. Authorities also raided stash houses in Columbia Heights, Hastings and Rochester.</p><p>In November 2025, officers stopped Rodriguez in a coordinated traffic operation and recovered three pounds of methamphetamine from his vehicle. Trial evidence showed he had received dozens more pounds for distribution, prosecutors said.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/massive-haul-methamphetamine-seized-one-minnesotas-largest-meth-busts-ever" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>MASSIVE HAUL OF METHAMPHETAMINE SEIZED IN ONE OF MINNESOTA'S 'LARGEST METH BUSTS' EVER</strong></a></p><p>Federal authorities said the trafficking network was affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel, a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/world-regions/location-mexico" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mexican transnational criminal organization</a> long tied to major drug operations in the United States.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP</strong></a></p><p>Rodriguez will be sentenced at a later date.</p>