Texas Border Town Mayor, School Board President Face Drug Charges

The mayor of a small Texas border town is the latest politically connected individual arrested by federal authorities on drug trafficking charges. The mayor’s brother, the former school board president, has faced similar charges since his arrest in late 2023.

This week, agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis, the mayor of Progreso, Texas, on a criminal indictment accusing him of possessing with intent to distribute large quantities of cocaine, as well as drug conspiracy charges. Alanis has already appeared before a magistrate judge and remains in federal custody awaiting further court proceedings.

Alanis is an employee of the Progresso Independent School District, while his brother Francisco “Frank” Alanis is the former school board president and city manager. As Breitbart Texas reported, federal authorities first arrested Frank Alanis in October 2023 on cocaine trafficking charges as part of the same criminal indictment. Currently, seven individuals are named in the criminal indictment.

According to reporting from Dave Hendricks from CBS4, the incident first began in 2020, when U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped Joe Rosbel Salas, a school bus driver from Progreso ISD, and found he had 30 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside his personal truck. After the arrest, Salas cooperated with federal investigators and received a four-year prison sentence instead of a large sentence. That cooperation appears to have led authorities to the Alanis brothers, who are part of a large political family that has been heavily involved in Progreso politics for over ten years. They came into power years after the FBI arrested several members of another family named Vela, who, in 2014, had control of the city and the school board at the time. As Breitbart Texas reported, the Vela family used their positions at the school board and the city hall to collect numerous bribes.

The Alanis brothers made local headlines in 2023 after they crossed from Mexico into Progreso with open alcohol containers and under the influence of alcohol. Video of the incident aired by CBS4 shows the brothers being confrontational with federal officers during their detention. After the two were released on a misdemeanor charge, Frank Alanis bragged to authorities about a large wad of cash and a “$20,000” Rolex he wore.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.