3 people arrested in connection to Carrollton-Farmers Branch fentanyl overdoses
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - United States Attorney Leigha Simonton announced the arrest of three people Feb. 15 tied to ten fentanyl poisonings leading to overdoses of Carrollton-Farmers Branch students and three deaths.
Jason Xavier Villanueva, 22, was charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He was arrested on Feb. 14 and made his initial appearance in federal court the next day.
According to the complaint, Villanueva allegedly worked through a juvenile dealer to supply fentanyl-laced pills to Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, 29, the pair accused of peddling mostly blue tablets inscribed "M-30," to juvenile dealers in Carrollton, who went on to sell to friends and classmates.
Navarrete and Cano were charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances last week and remain detained pending trial.
"We believe these three traffickers are linked to as many as ten juvenile overdoses – three of them fatal," Simonton said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chávez also spoke, describing how Villanueva allegedly transacted with some of the teenage dealers directly, connecting through social media.
"Keep an eye on your kid's social media accounts. If you see the same unusual words or emojis, ask questions," Simonton advised.
Villanueva allegedly posted photographs of "M-30" pills, money, and firearms on social media. He used the message function on a popular social media app to negotiate drug transactions with juvenile dealers and described the quality of the pills he was selling to his customers.
Following Navarrete and Cano's arrests last week, Villanueva posted on social media, "Only thing that's gonna stop us is feds."
As more and more young people are suffering fentanyl poisoning leading to an overdose, local law enforcement officials are prioritizing getting the drug off the streets.
"This cannot be viewed as somebody else's problem. It's everyone's," said Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo.
News of the arrests comes amid a sharp nationwide increase in the lethality of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills.
"I've been doing this for 23 years and I've never have I seen such a deadly drug come across our neighborhoods – some of the most affluent to more rural. It's two parent households, single parent households – it's everywhere," said Chávez, adding that the Drug Enforcement Administration Dallas Field Division seized 11.4 million potential deadly doses last year.
It's a deadly threat felt not only in North Texas, but across the country.
"It's a war that we are fighting all over the United States," said Simonton.
The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has found that, of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022, six out of ten contained a potentially lethal dose of the drug. That's an increase from the DEA's previous announcement in 2021 that four out of ten fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills were found to contain a potentially lethal dose.
The pills are mass-produced by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, according to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
"It's a fight for our families. It's a fight to hold criminals accountable for their actions. One pill can kill," said Chávez.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years each in federal prison.