Feds arrest former Progreso City Council candidate on drug trafficking charges

McALLEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — A federal grand jury indicted a former Progreso City Council candidate on drug trafficking charges Tuesday.

Dagoberto “Dago” Treviño, 45, of Progreso is accused of participating in a conspiracy that involved about 194 pounds of cocaine.

“I don’t know anything about it yet,” said attorney Daniel J. Garcia of Rio Grande City, who represents Treviño.

The indictment against Treviño doesn’t provide any details about the case or reveal what role he allegedly played in the conspiracy.

“I haven’t gotten any of the reports or anything,” Garcia said.

Treviño is a dispatcher for PLL Logistics, a company owned by Pedro Luis Lopez , 55, of Progreso.

During the past decade, Lopez had several run-ins with the law.

In 2013, the Texas Department of Public Safety caught Lopez smuggling about 1,100 pounds of marijuana through Progreso in a shipment of blackberries.

Lopez made a “full confession,” according to documents released under the Texas Public Information Act, and pleaded guilty.

As part of the deal, Lopez received deferred adjudication, which allowed him to avoid a felony conviction.

The Department of Public Safety linked Lopez to another marijuana shipment in 2016, but he wasn’t charged with any crime.

In 2018, when a state trooper caught him with $8,000 in cash and several mysterious ledgers, Lopez was charged with money laundering. The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office dropped the case after prosecutors admitted they couldn’t prove Lopez had actually laundered the money.

Treviño started working for Lopez about three years ago.

“He’s a very straight man. He’s loved by everyone,” Treviño told CBS 4 News during a June 2024 interview. “He does a lot for the community, I can tell you that.”

Lopez also supported Treviño’s campaign for City Council.

In April, when Progreso called a special election to pick a new mayor and fill a vacant City Council seat, Treviño teamed up with City Councilman Raul Martinez.

Martinez ran for mayor. Treviño ran for City Council Place 2.

They campaigned together with the slogan: “Guided by Integrity, Inspired by You.”

Lopez frequently stopped by the polls , where he chatted with voters and campaign volunteers.

On June 13, however, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Lopez during an early morning raid.

The investigation started in 2022, when the DEA received information about a trucker who allegedly worked for a drug trafficking organization.

In November 2022, as part of the investigation, Border Patrol searched a produce shipment at the Falfurrias checkpoint. Agents discovered about 40 packages of cocaine, which had been wrapped in black tape and coated in motor oil.

Records kept by the government revealed a white Ford Ranger registered to Lopez had followed the tractor-trailer through the Falfurrias checkpoint that day — and on five other occasions.

The trucker, Faustino Perez Luna, pleaded guilty. A judge sentenced him to nearly 6 years in federal prison.

DEA agents traveled to Beaumont, Texas, in April 2024 to interview Perez.

“PEREZ stated the bosses of the DTO he was working for when he was arrested on November 13, 2022, were Pedro Luis LOPEZ and ‘CUATE,’” according to an affidavit filed in a civil forfeiture case.

Agents determined that “Cuate” was Lopez’s brother, Jose Gabriel Lopez-Garcia.

In the interview, Perez told DEA agents he started working for Lopez in 2021. Perez said several of Lopez’s employees knew he smuggled drugs and participated in the scheme.

A grand jury indicted Lopez, his brother and Daniel Sanchez-Benavidez, who is related to the Lopez family, in June.

After his arrest, Sanchez “admitted he had been working for Pedro LOPEZ for approximately two (2) years moving narcotics,” according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors returned to the grand jury in July, when they secured a superseding indictment that charged Treviño with participating in the conspiracy.

Treviño is scheduled for arraignment on Monday afternoon. He plans to plead not guilty.

If convicted, Treviño faces 10 years to life in federal prison.

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