A convicted El Paso fentanyl dealer faces five to 40 years in prison after a jury found him guilty on drug-trafficking charges at trial in U.S. district court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said.
Charles Arellano, 45, was convicted of selling packages of fentanyl powder to confidential informants during an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in January 2025, court documents stated.
A sentencing date for Arellano is pending.
During a fentanyl deal, Arellano allegedly “claimed to be connected to various drug cartels and had been involved in drug dealing for a long time,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated in an Oct. 8 news release.
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Fentanyl powder is powerful, potentially dangerous synthetic opioid that is mixed with other illicit drugs and can be sold as powder, nasal sprays and pressed into pill form.
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration photo of a plastic bag containing fentanyl powder.
Arellano was selling fentanyl to drug buyers who turned out be confidential sources working with the DEA, according to a criminal complaint filed by a DEA special agent obtained by the El Paso Times.
In one transaction, Arellano sold about six ounces of fentanyl during a meeting with a DEA informer inside a parked vehicle near the intersection of Lake Victoria Drive and Robert Wynn Street in the East Side on Jan. 14, 2025, the complaint stated.
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Another similar seven-ounce fentanyl transaction took place in the same block as a Christian church in the 3500 block of Morehead Avenue in Central El Paso on Jan. 23, 2025, the complaint stated.
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DEA El Paso Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffery Castillo discusses investigative tools displayed in front of a specialized response vehicle in El Paso, Texas, used by the agency’s Clandestine Lab and High Hazard Environment Team to respond to fentanyl exposure incidents and other hazardous chemical threats. (Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times)
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Arellano fled to Mexico in early 2025. Mexican authorities arrested him in June 2025 and he was returned to the United States.
Arellano was indicted in July 2025 along with another defendant, Yvonne Beltran-Leyva, who pleaded guilty to her role in the fentanyl trafficking conspiracy in October 2025 and was sentenced to nine years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The case was part of “Operation Take Back America,” the U.S. Department of Justice’s offensive against illegal immigration, drug cartels and international gangs.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso fentanyl dealer who claimed cartel ties convicted in DEA case