Texas couple charged with dealing fentanyl-laced pills to minors, causing 10 overdoses and 3 deaths

CARROLTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Texas couple has been charged with dealing pills laced with fentanyl to minors, several of whom overdosed and died.

Federal agents say Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, 29, dealt fake Percocet and Oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl, commonly known as "M30s," to high school drug dealers out of their home in Carrolton, Texas -- which is a suburb of Dallas.

The pills were reportedly sold around R.L. Turner High School and to younger students at Dewitt Perry and Dan F. Long Middle Schools.

Navarrete and Cano were arrested on Friday and charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

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During the six-month period between September 2022 and February 2023, 10 juvenile overdoses were reported, the Justice Department said. Three of the minors, the youngest of whom was 13, died as a result of the pills.

According to court documents, Navarrete sold pills directly to students, and law enforcement actually saw him hand pills to a student drug dealer on Jan. 12. The student admitted that he got the pills he was caught snorting in the high school bathroom from Navarrete.

A 14-year-old student who reportedly overdosed twice and was temporarily paralyzed by an overdose told officials she was "familiar with Luis Navarrete" had previously purchases multiple "M30" pills from him. Law enforcement officials went on to find "M30" pills at the student's house, court documents state.

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"To deal fentanyl is to knowingly imperil lives. To deal fentanyl to minors - naive middle and high school students - is to shatter futures. These defendants' alleged actions are simply despicable. We can never replace the three teenagers whose lives were lost, nor can we heal the psychological scars of those who survived their overdoses. But we can take action to ensure these defendants are never allowed to hand a pill to a child again," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.

The man and woman both face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Fentanyl plays a big role in the ongoing opioid crisis. Last year in Texas, fentanyl was linked to almost all deadly cases of opioid overdoses.

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