A fentanyl trafficker tied to juvenile overdoses in Carrollton and Flower Mound pleaded guilty Tuesday to a drug crime, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Magaly Mejia Cano was charged in February. On Tuesday she pleaded guilty to a charge of one count of distribution of a controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age.
"Just 2mg of fentanyl can cut a young life tragically short. Peddling fentanyl pills to teenagers is one of the most callous crimes a trafficker can commit," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. "With Ms. Cano's plea today, we are one step closer to getting justice for parents who lost their teens to fentanyl."
"Those who choose a path of darkness to distribute and pollute our communities with fentanyl, should always be looking over their shoulder because of the relentless efforts of DEA Dallas and our law enforcement partners," said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez. "Ms. Cano's guilty plea is a clear result and warning to those that decide this same path."
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Cano is the first defendant to enter a guilty plea in the drug distribution scheme, which has been linked to at least 12 juvenile overdoses, three of them fatal, in Carrollton and Flower Mound since September 2022.
Others charged in the conspiracy include Jason Xavier Villanueva, Luis Eduardo Navarrete, Donovan Jude Andrews, Stephen Paul Brinson, Robert Alexander Gaitan, and Rafael Soliz, Jr.
In plea papers, Cano admitted that co-defendant Luis Navarrete routinely dealt fentanyl-laced pills to juveniles from his Highland Drive residence.
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The round blue pills, imprinted with M/30, resembled prescription narcotics, but were fakes, according to federal officials.
In plea papers, Cano said Navarrete stored the counterfeit pills near their front door of their Carrollton residence and distributed them to customers who came by the house, including a network of juvenile dealers who dealt to other minors.
On at least three occasions, Cano admitted, she distributed pills directly to customers, including a 16-year-old, at Navarrete's direction.
Cano now faces up to 40 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine.
WHAT IS FENTANYL?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose.
Without laboratory testing, there is no way to know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder. If you encounter fentanyl in any form, do not handle it and call 911 immediately.
Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with 66% of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Drug poisonings are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Fentanyl available in the United States is primarily supplied by two criminal drug networks, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
