Man charged in Progreso drug case pleads guilty

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS ( ValleyCentral ) — On Tuesday morning, Gregorio Salinas said the word he’d been avoiding for more than two years: “Guilty.”

Salinas worked with several people from Progreso — including former school board President Francisco “Frank” Alanis and former Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis — to ship cocaine from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston, according to documents filed by federal prosecutors.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Salinas in March 2022. After more than two years in jail, Salinas came clean on Tuesday.

Standing before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. on the third floor of the federal courthouse in Brownsville, he admitted to obtaining “cover loads” for the drug trafficking organization.

The loads provided cover for truckers who smuggled cocaine through Border Patrol checkpoints. Salinas also made sure the trucks had insurance, permits and everything else they needed to look legitimate.

Attorney Leonardo Rincones Jr., who represents Salinas, declined to comment.

Gregorio Omar Salinas Rodriguez was born in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, in February 1971, according to Hidalgo County jail records.

When, exactly, Salinas began smuggling drugs remains unclear.

In July 2010, he filed paperwork with the Hidalgo County Clerk’s Office for a business called BNA Transport.

BNA Transport operated from a property Salinas owned north of Mercedes, according to information published by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In 2016, the Texas Department of Public Safety received a tip about someone named “Omar” smuggling drugs in a red tractor-trailer.

Agents followed the red tractor-trailer from Weslaco to a truck stop in Edinburg.

A state trooper stopped the driver, who appeared nervous, according to an affidavit filed in a civil forfeiture case. Agents asked the driver for permission to search the tractor-trailer.

He agreed.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection ran the tractor-trailer through a scanner at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which revealed “an anomaly” in one of the pallets.

“Two boxes of limes containing bundles wrapped in black tape were discovered,” according to the affidavit.

The bundles contained about 49 pounds of cocaine.

Agents seized the tractor-trailer. The next day, Salinas called the Department of Public Safety.

“He claimed to be the owner of the truck and was worried about the load,” according to the affidavit, “but was told that the truck was not going to be released pending further investigation.”

Surveillance video showed that Salinas had loaded the tractor-trailer.

A grand jury indicted Salinas in 2017. The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office, however, dropped the case in 2018, when Salinas agreed to forfeit the tractor-trailer.

Noe Perez, the attorney who represented Salinas in the drug case, couldn’t be reached for comment. Perez surrendered his law license after he admitted to bribing state District Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” Delgado.

The federal case against Salinas started in August 2020, when Border Patrol stopped a trucker at the Sarita checkpoint. Agents discovered about 30 pounds of cocaine hidden in his tractor-trailer.

Salinas had provided the trucker with a “cover load” for the drug shipment.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arrested Salinas in March 2022.

On the day of his arrest, the Hidalgo County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force searched the BNA Transport property near Mercedes.

Agents seized about $17,000 in cash, according to a civil forfeiture affidavit.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan ordered Salinas held without bond.

“There’s just too much cocaine for this to be a first time,” Morgan said during a hearing in March 2022.

Salinas returned to court Tuesday, when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess more than 5 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute.

As part of his plea, Salinas admitted the conspiracy included both Frank Alanis, the former school board president, and Jerry Alanis, the former mayor.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 1. Salinas faces 10 years to life in federal prison.

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