United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EL PASO – On April 3, 2025, Eric Robles was indicted on Texas state charges of Murder and Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Penalty Group 1B Over 4 grams and Under 200 grams. On April 23, 2025, approximately two weeks before completing his sentence on unrelated federal drug charges, Robles was transferred from the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to the custody of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. The case was the first time the 34th Judicial District Attorney's office charged Murder as it relates to the distribution of fentanyl resulting in a death.

The Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) El Paso Fentanyl Overdose Response Team (FORT), a West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative, investigated the case. FORT is staffed by DEA, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Department of Army Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas National Guard, and the El Paso Police Department.

“The ability to bring the state charge of murder gives the DEA another tool in our belt,” said Omar Arellano, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division. “Drug dealers even considering setting up shop in Texas need to keep that in mind.”

Texas House Bill 6, passed in response to the rising number of fentanyl-related fatalities across the state, classifies the act of supplying fentanyl resulting in death as murder.

Although this is the first FORT case indicted on Texas state charges, the DEA's El Paso Division has had a total of 10 federally-charged cases which resulted in the sentencing of 10 individuals for distribution causing death. The 10 individuals received a combined 152 years in federal prison without parole.

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