Texas Border City Mayor Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges

A former Texas border city mayor pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking conspiracy charges in a plot that allegedly involved his successor, a local school board president, and several others in moving cocaine shipments from South Texas to Houston.

This week, former Progresso Mayor Arturo Aleman went before a U.S. federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, where he pleaded guilty to one drug conspiracy charge as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Aleman reportedly worked to obtain tractor-trailers for the drug smuggling organization. He is awaiting sentencing later this year.

David Hendricks first reported the case on the local CBS4 channel.

Aleman is just one former Progresso mayor named in the cocaine conspiracy as having worked with an unnamed Mexican cartel to move the drugs north. As Breitbart Texas reported, Aleman’s successor Gerardo “Gerry” Alaniz and his brother, local school board president Francisco “Frank” Alaniz, have both been charged with drug trafficking conspiracy charges in connection with the case.  The two brothers are part of a politically connected family that has ruled over the small border city for several years.

TheAlaniz brothers made local headlines in South Texas in 2023 after federal authorities detained the two brothers as they crossed from Mexico with open containers and appeared to be intoxicated. In a series of videos published by CBS4, Frank Alaniz is seen bragging to officers about having a large amount of cash and a $20,000 Rolex watch.

The case against the three politicians appears to have started in 2020 when U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a school bus driver from Progresso named Jose Rosbel Salas, who had 30 kilograms of cocaine in his vehicle.

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.