DEA arrests Progreso businessman who meddled in local politics

PROGRESO, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested three people Thursday in Progreso, including a well-known businessman with a checkered past.

Pedro Luis Lopez, 55, of Progreso, is charged with participation in a conspiracy involving 194 pounds of cocaine.

“I thought he was just a business owner like me,” said City Councilman Raul Martinez.

Martinez said his business, Tortilleria Nvo Progreso, sells tortillas to Lopez's business, Grocery Store 1015.

“It’s been a crazy day,” Martinez said.

Lopez is well known in Progreso, where many people believe he owns the 1015 grocery store.

However, documents filed with the Texas Secretary of State's office indicate that Lopez's son, Pedro Jr., is the managing member of 1015 Grocery Store LLC. Lopez does not appear on the papers.

“Everyone here at Progreso says it’s theirs,” Martinez said. “So I thought it was his.”

How exactly Lopez earned her money remains unclear.

In 2004, he started R/C Trading LLC, which had an address at Mercedes, according to documents filed with the secretary of state's office.

Hidalgo County jail records indicate that R/C Trading is Lopez's employer and that his occupation is “grain exporting.”

In 2019, a lawyer who represented Lopez in a civil suit filed a motion trying to explain why he was carrying large sums of cash.

According to the motion, Lopez owned a “warehouse business” that generated more than $5 million in gross revenue, as well as a convenience store “which is doing very well.”

Lopez, however, has also had several run-ins with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In 2013, Department of Public Safety agents followed a suspicious tractor-trailer from a hotel in Donna to a warehouse in Progreso.

Lopez and the truck driver left the warehouse together, according to a report prepared by the Department of Public Safety.

A state trooper stopped the truck driver on Farm to Market Road 1015. When they searched the tractor-trailer, officers found approximately 1,100 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of blackberries.

Officers questioned Lopez about the marijuana.

“LOPEZ, who is also the owner of the warehouse where the marijuana was recovered, was debriefed,” according to the report, “giving a full confession and committing to provide more information at a later date.”

Lopez pleaded guilty to marijuana possession but was granted a deferred adjudication, allowing him to avoid a felony conviction.

The Department of Public Safety linked Lopez to another marijuana shipment in 2016.

A vehicle registered to Lopez “was observed encountering two men in a tractor truck,” according to an affidavit filed in a civil forfeiture case. “The tractor truck was then observed heading toward LOPEZ’s property in Progreso, Texas, and loading 686 pounds of marijuana.”

Lopez has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

In 2018, the Department of Public Safety came upon Lopez again.

During a traffic stop, a state trooper discovered approximately $8,000 in Lopez's truck, along with several handwritten ledgers.

“Ledgers maintained in this manner are also common accounting practices for narcotics transactions,” according to the affidavit. “The records contained only numbers and no other information indicating what those numbers (sic) might represent.”

Lopez was accused of money laundering.

Prosecutors dropped the case less than a year later, failing to prove that Lopez had actually laundered money.

Lopez has also become a major player in local politics.

In April, when Progreso's mayor resigned, Martinez decided to run for the position. Lopez became one of his biggest supporters.

Lopez allowed Martinez to use the 1015 grocery store for campaign gifts and spent hours sitting with Martinez's team at the polls.

“He obviously has a store and everything, and he would show up with food and stuff for their camp,” said Melba Rodriguez, 65, of Progreso.

Rodriguez supports another candidate, Hugo Gamboa, for mayor. She wondered why Lopez spent so much time at the polls.

“I see he’s very interested in this campaign,” Rodriguez said. “And I wondered why.”

Martinez said he did not know Lopez's criminal record.

“I even got a call from my mom right now. Like, “What’s going on? What happened? He was there with you,” Martinez said, remembering the conversation. “I'm like, 'Yeah, I know mom. I didn't even know it. This was a surprise to me too.

The DEA arrested Lopez Thursday morning after a grand jury indicted him on federal drug trafficking charges.

At least two other people, José Gabriel López-Garcia and Daniel Sánchez-Benavidez, are believed to have participated in the plot.

On Nov. 13, 2022, they possessed 194 pounds of cocaine with the intent to distribute it, according to the indictment, which does not include any details of the conspiracy or explain what each person did.

If convicted, they face at least 10 years in federal prison.

The case against Lopez may be linked to a drug trafficking case against former Progreso Mayor Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis and his brother, former Progreso School Board President Francisco “Frank” Alanis.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Andrade of Brownsville is handling both cases.

Lopez remained in custody Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Javier Villalobos of McAllen, who represented Lopez in marijuana and money laundering cases, said he would speak to Lopez's family.

Court records do not list attorneys for the other two defendants, who also remain in custody.

They are due to appear before a judge Friday morning.