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Massive Fentanyl Ring Allegedly Run By Father And Son In Plano, Texas

Gallegos is currently in hiding from Texas feds in Mexico
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Photo: ShutterstockProfessional | Shutterstock

Fentanyl is a growing problem in the U.S., but deaths in Collin County schools and neighboring districts have residents wanting answers as to how the drug ended up in North Texas. Two major suppliers could be behind it all — a father and son from Plano. 

According to The Dallas Morning News, 5.7 million in sales of fentanyl and other drugs over roughly a year and a half were part of a father and son’s trafficking ring. Rafael Galindo-Gallegos, 53, and his son, identified in court records as Rafael Galindo Gallegos Jr., 28, ran the major smuggling operation from Durango, in northwest Mexico, for the Sinaloa cartel.  

Rafael Galindo Gallegos lived in Plano before fleeing to Mexico in 2011, where he is harboring his compatriots on a fortified 10-acre ranch under armed guard.

In addition to bringing about 90 pounds of various drugs into the U.S. per week, Gallegos and his son are allegedly responsible for most of the deadly fentanyl pills smuggled into North Texas cities, the DEA said.

The fentanyl is responsible for three high school students overdosing in a school bathroom in 2021 in Flower Mound. It is not clear whether or not the same drugs killed the Carrollton ISD students or the Plano ISD student

The indictments of the two, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, formed one of the biggest fentanyl trafficking investigations possibly in the nation. The plot began around 2017 and continues with operations in Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Grand Prairie, Carrollton, Plano, Richardson and Rockwall. 

Since a raid in November 2019, DEA agents rounded up and charged over 100 defendants. 

According to court filings, the pair was also buying high-powered assault rifles in the U.S. and smuggling them into Mexico to give the Sinaloa cartel the weapons to battle police and rival cartels.

Gallegos is considered armed and dangerous and allegedly ordered the killing of someone who insulted his son and is responsible for “many other unsolved murders and kidnappings,” according to DEA agents.

Gallegos fled to Mexico around 2011 to avoid capture by the North Texas feds and was followed there by his son. He is still considered a fugitive “hiding in a secure compound surrounded by guards” in Durango with at least 10 others, including U.S. citizens, under his protection. 

The Dallas DEA shared the following photo of the father and son: