Feds arrest man charged in Kansas meth case

Authorities have arrested a man charged with using a rural Douglas County home to produce methamphetamine.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports Benito Olivas-Yanez was arrested Wednesday in Olathe. He’s one of 17 defendants indicted in December as part of a conspiracy federal prosecutors say spanned from July 2011 to December 2013.

Olivas-Yanez, a Mexican citizen, is scheduled to return to federal court Monday for a detention hearing. He’s the 12th defendant arrested in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in March 2015. He’s charged with possessing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and for using a home in rural Douglas County to produce methamphetamine.

Investigators believe the conspiracy spanned multiple states and into Mexico.

A lawyer listed for Olivas-Yanez couldn’t be reached for comment.