Final Defendant Sentenced in Significant Lubbock Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization

On April 13, 2026, the final defendant in a significant Lubbock, Texas methamphetamine trafficking organization was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.

Shawn Nichole Zatloukal was a member of a larger methamphetamine trafficking organization responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in the Lubbock area. She and her codefendants, all of Lubbock, were indicted in August 2025 and all later pled guilty to methamphetamine trafficking charges. Zatloukal was sentenced on Monday this week by Fifth Circuit Judge Andrew S. Oldham, sitting by assignment. The remaining defendants were sentenced by United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who noted during co-defendant Jeremiah Arguijo's sentencing hearing the staggering amount of drugs distributed by the organization. All were sentenced to lengthy prison terms:

Jeremiah "Chris" Arguijo, 40, was sentenced to 360 months;
Shawna Nichole Zatloukal, 55, was sentenced to 168 months;
Christopher Alan Nagella, 59, was sentenced to 240 months;
Adam "Adan" Casas, Jr., 52, was sentenced to 97 months;
Benjamin "BJ" Hernandez, 46, was sentenced to 132 months; and
Nicholas James Westbrook, 45, was sentenced to 160 months.

"These lengthy prison sentences should serve as a warning of what lies ahead for those who distribute narcotics in the Northern District of Texas," said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. "We will be relentless in identifying and prosecuting drug traffickers, as we continue to focus on making the communities in which we live safer."

"These sentences underscore our commitment to holding drug traffickers accountable for the harm they bring to our communities," said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Joseph B. Tucker. "The DEA Lubbock Resident Office and our law enforcement partners throughout the region will continue to aggressively pursue those that distribute this poison and never waver as we seek to protect the neighborhoods we call home."

According to court documents, the investigation lasted several months and culminated in the execution of multiple search warrants on July 22, 2025. During these searches, agents located several pounds of methamphetamine, multiple firearms, and several thousand dollars in currency. In total, agents seized over 4,200 grams of methamphetamine during this investigation, some of which is depicted below:

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Lubbock Police Department, the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting, the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.