Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Eduardo A. Chávez has declared that two alleged fentanyl dealers are being federally charged in connection to up to ten juvenile overdoses, three of which were fatal.
Luis Eduardo Navarrete, aged 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, aged 29, have been accused of conspiring to dispense fentanyl and were apprehended at Navarrete’s home in Carrollton on Friday. They made their first court appearances on Monday afternoon.
A criminal complaint claims that Navarrete and Cano have been distributing counterfeit Percocet and Oxycontin pills with the presence of fentanyl, generally referred to as “M30s.” They’re accused of distributing these counterfeit pills to various juvenile drug dealers, a majority of whom were students attending R.L. Turner High School.
The pills were then supposedly sold to other students at R.L. Turner High School and even to younger students at Dewitt Perry and Dan F. Long Middle Schools.
Nine students from various schools, ranging in age from 13 to 17, experienced a total of ten overdoses, three of which resulted in death. All of these overdoses took place between September 2022 and February 2023.
A 14-year-old girl, who experienced two overdoses and temporary paralysis, told authorities that the pills she ingested were procured from juvenile dealers who had received the drugs from Navarrete. She also admitted to having purchased pills directly from Navarrete in the past.
On January 12, 2023, police officers conducting surveillance at the residence of Navarrete, witnessed him engaging in a deal with another 16-year-old dealer. The officers tracked the juvenile to a bathroom at R.L. Turner, where he was discovered to be inhaling drugs.
During an interview, the juvenile confessed that he had procured the drugs, referred to as “perc pills”, from Navarrete.
The Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Dallas Field Division, Eduardo A. Chavez, discussed the severity of the alleged drug dealers’ actions. He said, “Selling drugs alone is a serious transgression, but to sell deadly fentanyl to a juvenile is one of the most shocking and callous ways to hurt a community.”