(Radio Iowa) – A man has been sentenced to nearly 29 years in prison for importing meth from Mexico and distributing it in the Waterloo area. Thirty-four-year-old Travis Charles Werkmeister of Waterloo — who goes by the nickname “Cheese” — pleaded guilty in February to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Undercover agents bought meth at Werkmeister’s house in Waterloo in 2018. In 2019, investigators tapped Wekmeister’s phone and, according to a news release from the U-S attorney’s office, they were able to intercept thousands of calls and messages between Werkmeister and others in a drug-distribution organization, including the head of the group who’s based in Mexico.

Werkmeister is one of 13 people arrested a year ago after a dozen locations in Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Roland and Marshalltown were searched.