Texas Border-Area School Board President Pleads Guilty to Drug Conspiracy Charges

The president of a Texas border-area school board pleaded guilty to his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. The conspiracy involved key members of the political leadership of that city. The guilty plea comes just one week after the mayor of that city also pleaded guilty to the same charge.

This week, 41-year-old Francisco “Frank” Alaniz, the former president of Progreso Independent School District and Progreso Assistant City Manager, appeared before a U.S. District Court judge in Brownsville, Texas. He pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge, and prosecutors dismissed other charges in the case against him. Alaniz is expected to be sentenced in January.

The guilty plea comes just one week after former Progreso Mayor Arturo Aleman pleaded guilty to the same charge, Breitbart Texas reported.

Also named in the case is Gerardo “Gerry” Alaniz, who was the mayor of Progreso at the time of his arrest but has since left his post. He has not pleaded guilty and is expected to go to trial later this year.

According to a report by Dave Hendricks from CBS4, Frank Alaniz admitted to having provided funds to members of an unnamed drug trafficking organization so they could purchase tractor-trailers to move cocaine shipments from the small border city to other northern cities.

The Alaniz brothers made local headlines in 2023 after a local news report showed them on video bragging to authorities about carrying large amounts of cash and a Rolex while returning from Mexico. The news report dealt with the Alaniz brothers being detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for being intoxicated while entering the country. However, local authorities released them with a minor citation.

The drug trafficking case against the Alaniz brothers and nine other suspects began in 2020 when federal authorities arrested a Progreso ISD school bus driver named Jose Rosbel Salas after finding more than 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.