On Feb. 15, the Department of Justice announced the third arrest in connection with ten fentanyl overdoses suffered by Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD students last year.
Update 6/14/23 — 8:30 a.m.: On June 13 the Texas Northern District U.S. Attorney's Office announced Villanueva, considered by investigators the main source of supply of fentanyl in the area, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute the drug and distribution to minors. The official statement also disclosed new details on Villanueva's case. According to the press release, he distributed more than 200,000 fentanyl pills in the span of five to six months.
Villanueva is the third defendant linked to the Carrollton-Flower Mound juvenile overdoses to plea guilty, following Magaly Cano and Stephen Brinson's plea last month. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office there are five other defendants, Navarrete among them, who have been charged but not convicted yet.
Villanueva's sentencing is slated for October 4, 2023. He faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
Local Profile's original story continues below.
As previously reported by Local Profile, earlier this month a Carrollton couple, Luis Eduardo Navarrete and Magaly Mejia Cano, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. They currently remain detained pending trial. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Texas, investigators believed the couple provided the fentanyl-laced pills that led to three teenage overdose deaths in a span of six months.
Now the DOJ of Texas announced the person investigators consider a top source of supply of the drugs was arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 14. According to the criminal complaint, 22-year-old Jason Xavier Villanueva was charged with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance after three surviving overdose victims identified two juvenile dealers as the source of the pills they consumed.
According to the DOJ, the investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Office and the Carrollton Police Department conducted with the assistance of School Resource Officers from the Carrollton – Farmer’s Branch Independent School, found evidence that the two juvenile dealers were allegedly supplied by Villanueva.
In addition to allegedly supplying drugs directly to teenage dealers, Villanueva is suspected of being the main source of fentanyl pills for the arrested Carrollton couple. After his arrest, Navarrete allegedly admitted to law enforcement that Villanueva was also the source of the drugs he allegedly dealt to minors in the school district.
As stated by the DOJ, Villanueva allegedly promoted the drug trafficking business by posting photographs of “M30” pills, money and firearms on social media. According to the evidence obtained by law enforcement, he allegedly corresponded with the juvenile dealers for drug transactions using the messaging features of social media platforms. Following Navarrete and Cano’s arrest, he posted on social media, “Only thing that’s gonna stop us is feds.”
Villanueva’s arrest comes less than a week after the Collin County Sheriff’s Office and North Texas Sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Unit conducted the arrest of Eduardo Reyes, a Dallas man who was stopped on US 75 and Republic Drive, Plano. As reported by Local Profile, when police searched his car they found around 6,000 fentanyl pills and a handgun.
According to the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, Reyes was charged with manufacturing and delivering a narcotic over 400 grams and is being held in the Collin County jail on a $402,500 bond.
