08-04-2025
Feds in Las Vegas arrest 3, including 2 twice-deported undocumented immigrants, in drug bust
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Three people, including two previously-deported undocumented immigrants, face charges for allegedly working with a Mexican drug cartel to sell deadly fentanyl across the Las Vegas valley.
Jorge Flores-Villagran, Dulce Navarro-Martinez and Julio Pena-Garcia all face charges connected to allegations that they conspired to distribute fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, records said. In addition, Navarro-Martinez and Flores-Villagran face charges for illegally re-entering the country following prior deportations.
Drug cartels are manufacturing illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid 50-to-100 times more potent than morphine, and combining it with other street drugs. The deadly concoction is then pressed into small pills, commonly referred to as 'blues' or 'M30s.'
Overdose deaths involving the use of fentanyl with methamphetamine or cocaine between 2020 and 2023 in Clark County increased by 97%, rising from 73 deaths to 144 deaths, according to the health district.
Last August, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent began an investigation into a man in Mexico distributing drugs to the Las Vegas area, documents said. Investigators allege that Flores-Villagran, Navarro-Martinez and Pena-Garcia work as suppliers and couriers for the Mexican cartel.
Over the course of four controlled buys beginning last October, agents seized more than 17,000 pressed fentanyl pills and other drugs, they said. The buys occurred at parking lots in the east valley near Craig and Losee roads.
Agents later obtained a warrant to track Pena-Garcia's communications and his car, following it to an alleged narcotics shipment, they said.
On March 27, investigators arrested the trio and searched their homes, documents said. Investigators found large amounts of drugs and cash.
In 2019, Navarro-Martinez pleaded guilty to a state drug charge, documents said. A district court judge later sentenced her to 12-30 months in prison. Upon her release from prison in 2020, the federal government deported Navarro-Martinez and again in 2021, documents said.
Flores-Villagran was previously deported in 2023 and again as recently as June 2024, documents said.
During their detention hearings, Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts ordered all to remain in jail pending trial. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 21.
In 2024, overdose deaths increased in Nevada and four other states as national numbers declined, according to provisional data from the CDC.
Last month, 8 News Now asked an ICE spokesperson how many people the agency had arrested in southern Nevada since President Donald Trump took office. The spokesperson could not say, adding that a new tracking system was expected to come online in the future.
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