Since that fruitful November 2019 raid, DEA agents have rounded up and charged more than
100 defendants, a number of whom have agreed to cooperate, court records show.
The case’s tendrils reach deep into North Texas suburbia, including Flower Mound, where in
2021 three high school students overdosed in a school bathroom.
Agents identified the man they say is responsible. Rafael Galindo Gallegos spent his days in
Plano before fleeing to Mexico where he is harboring his compatriots on a fortified 10-acre
ranch under armed guard, the feds say.
Father and son
Law enforcement officials say fentanyl has eclipsed other street drugs as the deadliest and
most widely available drug in North Texas. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid originally created as
an anesthetic, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. An amount the size of the tip of
a sharpened pencil can be lethal.
About 900 Texans died from fentanyl-related overdoses in 2020, according to the Texas
Department of State Health Services. That number jumped to about 1,650 people in 2021 —
an increase of more than 80%, state health officials said.
Gallegos, 53, and his son, identified in court records as Rafael Galindo Gallegos Jr., 28, run
the major smuggling operation from Durango, in northwest Mexico, for the powerful Sinaloa
cartel that Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia and his longtime compadre, Joaquín “El
Chapo” Guzmán, once headed, the feds allege.
In addition to bringing about 90 pounds of various drugs into the U.S. per week, Gallegos
and his son are responsible for most of the deadly fentanyl pills smuggled into North Texas
cities, the DEA said.
How to use Narcan to reverse an opioid overdose, save a life
Various operatives sell the powerful synthetic opioid out of North Texas drug houses and
online via the dark web, where encrypted content provides users the cover of anonymity.
The Gallegos operation launders its considerable drug profits using cashier’s checks,
electronic money transfers and real estate and vehicle purchases, according to court
records. Smugglers also hide bundles of cash in vehicles bound for Mexico, court records
show.
Court filings detail another major component of the conspiracy: buying high-powered assault
rifles in the U.S. and smuggling them into Mexico to give the Sinaloa cartel the firepower to
battle police and rival cartels.