A Texas couple is accused of being behind a fentanyl distribution ring responsible for at least 10 overdoses on minors.
Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejía Cano, 29, are charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday.
L-R: Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, 29. (Carrollton PD)
The couple were arrested Friday at Navarrete’s residence in Carrollton, Texas, about 20 miles north of Dallas, and made their first court appearance Monday afternoon.
According to a complaint, Navarrete and Cano allegedly sold fake Percocet and Oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl to various drug dealers, mostly students at RL Tuner High School. These dealers, in turn, sold the drugs to their fellow students in high school and even to younger students at Dewitt Perry and Dan F. Long High Schools.
HOUSE DEM CLAIMS THE INCREASE IN FENTANYL INCOMMUNICATED AT THE BORDER IS A ‘SUCCESS’
Between September 2022 and February 2023, nine students from those schools, ranging in age from 13 to 17, suffered ten overdoses, three of which were fatal, prosecutors say.
One such student, a 14-year-old girl, overdosed twice and suffered temporary paralysis. The girl told police the pills she swallowed came from child traffickers who obtained the drugs from Navarrete, prosecutors say. She also claimed to have purchased pills directly from Navarrete in the past.
An example of fentanyl pills sized by US Customs and Border Protection agents. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
Law enforcement guarded Navarrete’s home and allegedly observed him “engaging in a one-on-one transaction with another 16-year-old trafficker” in mid-January, federal prosecutors say.
Officers followed the minor to a bathroom at RL Turner High School, where he sniffed the drugs at a booth. Prosecutors say the minor later told officers that he obtained the “perc pills” from Navarrete.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the school district for comment.
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If convicted, Cano and Navarrete face up to 20 years in federal prison.
