By Lori EhdeRock County Sheriff’s Deputies are paying close attention to a federal drug investigation in neighboring Nobles County.On Friday, a Nobles County man and three Mexican Nationals were indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged role in distributing methamphetamines in southwest Minnesota.Steven Mauch, 39, Adrian, and Jose Cervantes, 52, Jose Callejas, 22, and Julio Cardena Magana, 31, all from Mexico, face felony drug charges.They were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,500 grams of meth and aiding and abetting the possession with the intent to distribute 1,500 grams of meth.Rock County investigator Jeff Wieneke said he couldn’t comment specifically on how Friday’s arrest will affect Rock County Cases he’s working on, but he said, "Indirectly, it’s possible that it could," Wieneke said.The November 2002 arrest of several meth dealers in Luverne helped to thin the local meth market for a while, but Wieneke said it’s an ongoing battle."People who want it are still going to find it, and of course there are people who are willing to sell it," he said. "So we always have cases we’re working on."According to the criminal complaint filed Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court, Minneapolis, the arrests are the result of an undercover investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.A BCA agent met with Callejas in August in the Wal-Mart parking lot, Worthington. Cervantes allegedly met them carrying a bag containing 2.5 pounds of heat sealed packages of meth. Magana later approached the two in the parking lot where officers arrested him as well.Later that same day, a search warrant executed on Cervantes’ Worthington apartment yielded a large package containing about 2 pounds of meth, according to the complaint.According to Worthington law enforcement, Mauch served as the "go-between" in helping to arrange the narcotics sales.If convicted, all four men face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison on both counts of the indictment. The maximum penalty would be life in prison.