Progreso administrator fired after drug conviction

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The city of Progreso fired Assistant City Manager Francisco “Frank” Alanis on Thursday, two months after he pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge.

Interim City Manager Pedro “Pete” Treviño abruptly fired Alanis on Thursday afternoon.

“I think it’s just the best for the community,” Treviño said. “I mean, he was in direct violation of the standards and code of conduct expected as a public official.”

Treviño said he showed up at Progreso City Hall with a termination letter after lunch on Thursday. Alanis had already left.

“I didn’t get to talk to him. I don’t know if he heard something from someone else,” Treviño said. “I went to go look for him at the building over there — at the City Hall — and he wasn’t there anymore.”

To make sure Alanis received the letter, Treviño contacted his wife, Edith Vasquez, a secretary at the Progreso public safety building.

“I handed over the letter to Edith,” Treviño said. “To take to him.”

Attorney Carlos A. Garcia of Mission, who represents Alanis, declined to comment.

Progreso hired Alanis in 2004 through a Texas Workforce Commission program, according to personnel records Progreso released under the Texas Public Information Act. The job paid just $5.50 per hour.

What, exactly, Alanis did at City Hall for the past two decades remains unclear.

Documents released by the city don’t include a job description for the assistant city manager position or any other job Alanis held.

Alanis received two certificates from the Texas A&M University Engineering Extension Service in 2006, when he completed firefighter training programs, according to documents released by the city. After that, Progreso never placed another certificate in his file.

Agendas posted on the bulletin board at City Hall list Alanis as the city secretary, but he didn’t attend a single City Council meeting in 2024.

In January, when CBS 4 News filed a public information request for all letters, memos, emails and text messages Alanis had written during a three month period, Progreso could not produce a single piece of paper.

“As per conversation with Mr. Alanis,” according to a written response provided by the city, “he has not written any letters, memos, or emails and last no texts or messages to anybody.”

Whatever he did at City Hall, it paid well.

Alanis collected about $98,800 a year, according to salary data released by the city.

When he began smuggling drugs remains unclear.

Questions about Alanis surfaced in December 2015, when three masked gunmen broke into his house.

The gunmen assaulted Alanis and threatened his wife, according to affidavits filed with the Progreso Police Department. After his wife grabbed a gun and threatened to shoot them, two of the men ran away.

Officers detained the third man, who told a bizarre story about being picked up behind a grocery store in Mission and driven to Progreso.

“We got to a house and they forced me to get off,” according to an affidavit signed by the man, David Ricardo Saiz Jr., on Dec. 14, 2015. “And told me that we were going to get money and drugs.”

During an interview with investigators, Alanis denied any connection to drugs.

In October 2023, though, agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Alanis on drug charges.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, had linked Alanis to a drug trafficking organization that smuggled cocaine through South Texas.

Other people charged with participating in the conspiracy included his brother, former Progreso Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis; another former mayor, Arturo Aleman; and Joe Rosbel Salas Jr., a former bus driver for the Progreso Independent School District.

Agents also searched his mother’s house, where they found more than $722,000 in cash.

Alanis pleaded guilty in October 2024. As part of his plea, Alanis confessed to “financially backing” the drug trafficking organization.

Progreso allowed Alanis to return to work and didn’t take any disciplinary action.

In November, however, Mayor Hugo Gamboa’s supporters won three seats on the City Council. They brought in Treviño, who re-examined the city’s decision to keep Alanis on the payroll.

Alanis is scheduled for sentencing in January. He faces 10 years to life in federal prison.