Editor's Note - Corrected some details on 25th, Feb 2026.
A mayor in a small Rio Grande Valley town has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for his alleged role in a $1 million drug trafficking ring, which authorities say he operated out of the middle school where he worked, MySA reports. The irony is that the Republican Texas mayor, Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis, was long known for campaigning on border security.
Alanis has served as mayor of Progreso, a tiny border town with just 5,000 residents, for eight years. Despite the town’s size, federal authorities say it was home to a large-scale cocaine operation that involved Alanis, his brother, and other local officials.
Alanis was sentenced in a Brownsville federal court on Thursday, July 24, to four years in prison. He must also pay a $15,000 fine and remain under court supervision for three years following his release.
While serving as mayor, Alanis continued to work at a local middle school, which authorities allege he used to package cocaine for distribution in a locked, unused IT room.
“It is unthinkable that a public official would allow a school of all places to be used as a storehouse for cocaine. The facts of this case demonstrate how the drug trade affects all facets of a community, not just law enforcement,” Nicholas Ganjei, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement.
Federal authorities say the cocaine shipments moved from Progreso to Illinois, Tennessee, and North Carolina between 2020 and 2022. During that time, Alanis allegedly financed several large shipments of cocaine.
The operation also involved other notable figures in the Progreso community, including his brother, Frank Alanis, who served as school board president. Frank Alanis was sentenced in early July to 12 years in prison, according to NBC and CBS affiliate ValleyCentral.
Progreso sits near the Progreso International Bridge, which connects to the Mexican border town of Nuevo Progreso. Its proximity to the border and a longstanding reputation for corruption made it a hub for drug trafficking and other illicit activity, ValleyCentral reports.
Alanis is not the first Progreso mayor to face legal trouble. Former Mayor Omar Vela was arrested in 2003 for illegal voting, according to ValleyCentral. Ten years later, he was arrested on public corruption charges for soliciting kickbacks from local lawyers, architects, and businesses. Vela was sentenced to ten years in prison, paving the way for the town’s next mayor, Arturo Aleman, who also faced allegations.
Aleman admitted to participating in Alanis’ cocaine operation by purchasing the tractor-trailers used to transport the drugs. He was sentenced to 33 months in March, according to federal officials.
Other members of the trafficking ring, including a truck driver and those handling the logistics of moving cocaine across the country, received sentences of more than ten years in prison.
Altogether, nine individuals have now been sentenced for their involvement in the Progreso cocaine operation.
