CARROLLTON, TX – A pair of alleged fentanyl dealers are facing federal charges after authorities connected them to a devastating wave of overdoses among teenagers in the Carrollton area. Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, 29, are accused of supplying fake Percocet and Oxycontin pills laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl to juvenile drug dealers, who then peddled the poison to students at multiple schools.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday, the duo allegedly distributed the pills – commonly known as “M30s” – between September 2022 and February 2023. The fallout was horrific: nine students, aged 13 to 17, suffered a total of ten overdoses, three of which proved fatal. The investigation revealed a pipeline flowing through R.L. Turner High School, Dewitt Perry Middle School, and Dan F. Long Middle School. This wasn’t just dealing; it was a deliberate poisoning of children.
“To deal fentanyl is to knowingly imperil lives. To deal fentanyl to minors — naive middle and high school students — is to shatter futures,” thundered U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton, in a press statement. “These defendants’ alleged actions are simply despicable. We can never replace the three teenagers whose lives were lost, nor can we heal the psychological scars of those who survived their overdoses. But we can take action to ensure these defendants are never allowed to hand a pill to a child again.”
Law enforcement built its case through surveillance and harrowing testimony. One 14-year-old girl, who overdosed twice and suffered temporary paralysis, identified Navarrete as the source of the pills she obtained through juvenile dealers. Undercover officers even witnessed Navarrete conducting a hand-to-hand transaction with a 16-year-old dealer on January 12, 2023, who was later observed snorting the drugs inside a bathroom at R.L. Turner High School. The juvenile admitted to purchasing “perc pills” directly from Navarrete.
“Selling drugs alone is a serious transgression, but to sell deadly fentanyl to a juvenile is one of the most shocking and callous ways to hurt a community,” stated Eduardo A. Chavez, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division. Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo echoed the sentiment, praising the collaboration between agencies and vowing to “rid our great community of this poison.” The Carrollton Police Department provided crucial evidence to the DEA, highlighting the importance of interagency cooperation.
Navarrete and Cano have been charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The investigation was a joint effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Office, the Carrollton Police Department, and School Resource Officers from the Carrollton – Farmer’s Branch Independent School District. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Calvert and Phelesa Guy are prosecuting the case. A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But the evidence suggests a chilling pattern of greed and reckless disregard for human life.
RELATED: Carrollton Duo Charged in Deadly Fentanyl Ring
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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