Texas mayor’s cocaine trafficking arrest has a complicated backstory
On Aug. 8, 2020, a man driving a tractor-trailer pulled into a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in barren scrubland west of Padre Island National Seashore.
Behind the wheel was Jose Rosbel Salas, a former school bus driver with a sketchy past. Federal agents at the Sarita checkpoint inspected Salas’ rig and saw something suspiciouslooking in the undercarriage, near the drive shaft.
It was a 30-pound package of cocaine.
Salas fessed up on the spot, according to court records. He admitted he knew the drugs were there. He admitted “he was going to be paid for transporting the narcotics within the United States,” court records show.
The drug bust launched a federal drug trafficking investigation that eventually ensnared the mayor of the border town of Progreso, along with his brother, who was president of the local school board and an assistant Progreso city manager. The connection is documented in reporting by Dave Hendricks, a reporter/producer for CBS 4 News and Valley Central.com. Progreso Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis, 31, was arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy to possess more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine with intent to distribute, an offense punishable by a minimum 10-year federal prison term with no possibility of parole.
His brother, Frank Alanis, was arrested in October and charged with the same offense.
A federal grand jury indictment cites three dates in 2020 and 2021 on which Frank and Jerry Alanis and two co-defendants allegedly conspired to distribute cocaine. The amounts involved ranged from 30 pounds to 58 pounds, according to the indictment.
Frank Alanis has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond. Jerry remains in custody pending a court hearing Thursday where a federal judge will consider whether to release him on bond.
The brothers’ legal plight can be traced back to that 2020 arrest at the Sarita checkpoint. Facing the prospect of a long federal prison term for cocaine smuggling, Salas began cooperating with the government. Since then, prosecutors have brought charges against seven other people, including the Alanis brothers.
In May 2022, Salas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess more than 5 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute. He faced the same 10-year prison term that is now staring the Alanis brothers in the face. Because of his cooperation, however, Salas was sentenced in December to 47 months in prison. Details of the assistance he provided to prosecutors are under seal.
Before he got involved in trafficking cocaine, Salas, 42, was a bus driver for the Progreso Independent School District, part of the Alanis clan’s political empire.
His record left something to be desired, reporting by Hendricks shows. In 2017, a sophomore at Progreso High School complained that Salas drove off while he was trying to board a bus and almost ran him over. A year later, a custodian accused Salas of stealing property from an elementary school. He was fired in 2019.
The arrests of the Alanis brothers are the latest sign of entrenched public corruption in Progreso, which lies 230 miles south of San Antonio in the Rio Grande Valley.
In 2014, then-mayor Omar Leonel Vela pleaded guilty in connection with a scheme to shake down businesses for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for contracts with the city and the school district.
Vela pleaded guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges. Federal prosecutors said the mayor’s father, Jose Vela, who was director of maintenance and transportation for the Progreso school district, dominated local government and the school board through his sons, Omar and school board President Michael Vela.
Together, the Velas demanded bribes and kickbacks from contractors, while Jose Vela, the family patriarch, manipulated school board members through rewards and retaliation, prosecutors said.
After one board member defied him, Jose Vela ordered associates to run the man’s car off the road and assault him, an FBI agent testified.