Report: Mixed Martial Arts Promoter Facing Drug Charges in Texas

A mixed martial arts promoter is among those facing drug charges in Texas, according to a Breitbart.com report. Dimas De Leon, one of the owners and promoters of South Texas Fighting Championships, was arrested in March, the report said, touching off a series of events that exposed a vast scheme to steal drugs from smugglers near the Mexican border.

Fifteen defendants -- several of them law enforcement officials -- have been accused and face charges related to 11 counts of drug possession and conspiracy. According to the report, Homeland Security Investigations since 2013 had been looking into a drug trafficking organization that would prompt law enforcement officials to seize drugs in order to steal from other traffickers.

The report offered further details: “The group was contacted by drug traffickers looking to get loads of cocaine and methamphetamine into northern cities. According to authorities, the group would then dilute the drugs to a minimum in order to have law enforcement seize the diluted load while the group kept the actual drugs. The group would then tell the drug traffickers that their loads had been seized by law enforcement.”

According to a March 23 story published in The Monitor, a daily newspaper headquartered in McAllen, Texas, court documents show that “federal agents arrested De Leon for allegedly recruiting and bribing police officers who helped coordinate fake drug seizers.”

South Texas Fighting Championships has held 38 events to date. The promotion held its most recent show on Feb. 5 in McAllen, Texas.