Progreso businessman and former City Council candidate plead guilty to drug trafficking charges

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A former candidate for Progreso City Council and a local businessman pleaded guilty Friday to smuggling drugs.

Dagoberto “Dago” Treviño, 45, of Progreso, who ran for City Council in June, and Pedro Luis Lopez, 56, of Progreso, a well-known businessman, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge on Friday morning.

“It’s something that he wanted to move forward with. End a chapter of his life and begin a new one,” said attorney Daniel J. Garcia of Rio Grande City, who represents Treviño. “So it’s something that he had to face today.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarina DiPiazza summarized the conspiracy on Friday morning, when Treviño and Lopez appeared in court.

Jose Maria Riojas-Vazquez, 53, of Weslaco would transport cocaine across the international bridge that connects Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas, to Progreso, Texas.

Riojas-Vazquez delivered the cocaine to Lopez, a businessman from Progreso with a long history of smuggling drugs.

Lopez’s family owns the 1015 Grocery Store on Farm-to-Market Road 1015 and the El Dorado Event Center in Progreso. He also owns PLL Logistics, a transportation company.

Treviño worked for PLL Logistics, according to a ballot application released under the Texas Public Information Act.

“He’s a very straight man. He’s loved by everyone,” Treviño said in June, when Lopez was arrested. “He does a lot for the community, I can tell you that.”

When cocaine shipments arrived in Progreso, the drugs would be hidden in tractor-trailers. Truckers would transport the cocaine to Houston, Atlanta and other parts of the United States.

Treviño and Lopez’s brother, Jose Gabriel Lopez-Garcia, loaded the tractor-trailers. Daniel Sanchez-Benavidez, who is related to the Lopez family, also confessed to loading the tractor-trailers and conducting counter-surveillance.

During the hearing on Friday morning, all five men pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy that involved about 190 pounds of cocaine.

The investigation started in 2022, according to an affidavit filed in a civil forfeiture case, when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration received information about a trucker named Faustino Perez Luna.

Border Patrol stopped Perez Luna on Nov. 13, 2022, when he attempted to pass through a checkpoint near Falfurrias.

Agents discovered about 40 packages of cocaine hidden in pallets of produce, according to a criminal complaint filed against Perez Luna. The packages, which had been wrapped in black tape and coated with motor oil, weighed about 190 pounds.

Border Patrol also reviewed records from the Falfurrias checkpoint, which showed a white Ford Ranger had followed the tractor-trailer that day — and on five other occasions.

Lopez owned the Ford Ranger, according to the affidavit.

During the investigation, DEA agents discovered that fingerprints on the packages of cocaine belonged to a man named Antonio Ramirez-Robledo, who worked for Lopez.

A grand jury indicted Ramirez-Robledo in November 2023. He pleaded guilty.

As part of his plea, Ramirez-Robledo admitted to repackaging the cocaine and dropping off the drugs in exchange for $5,000.

The DEA arrested Lopez, Treviño, Lopez-Garcia, Sanchez-Benavidez and Riojas-Vazquez in 2024.

They pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge on Friday morning. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop another drug charge against them.

After the plea, Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane asked DiPiazza, the federal prosecutor, if Treviño, Lopez and Lopez-Garcia should remain on bond or be taken into custody. DiPiazza said they should remain on bond, but she couldn’t discuss the reason for her recommendation in open court.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 4. They face 10 years to life in federal prison.

Treviño’s attorney, Daniel J. Garcia, said his client is a good person who made a bad decision.

“And hopefully, when it comes time to sentence him, the judge will see that,” Garcia said. “And have a little bit of mercy on him.”