A Dallas-area man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for distributing narcotics, according to an announcement from United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
Victor Manuel Gaona, 29, pleaded guilty in July 2024 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. On March 5, 2026, United States District Judge Ada E. Brown sentenced him to 240 months in federal prison.
Court documents and statements made at sentencing indicate that on June 18, 2024, federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at a residence on Ben Hur Street in Dallas. The location had previously been linked to drug-trafficking activity involving Gaona and co-defendants Omar Castro-Sandoval and Epifanio Flores Magana. During the search, agents found a clandestine methamphetamine recrystallization laboratory in the back room of the residence where two minor children were also living. The laboratory contained various stages of methamphetamine production as well as equipment such as a propane tank, large burner, sieves, gloves, and large Ziploc baggies. Additional finished methamphetamine was discovered in a bedroom shared by Gaona and Flores Magana. Heroin prepared for distribution was located in a utility closet under children’s luggage.
Gaona was held responsible for nearly 100,000 kilograms of narcotics calculated in converted drug weight. Co-defendant Castro-Sandoval was present during the execution of the warrant and was sentenced by Judge Brown to 168 months imprisonment on January 20, 2026. Sentencing for co-defendant Flores Magana is scheduled for April 14, 2026.
The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159: Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is described as “a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.” According to officials: “Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting, the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders.” The HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those involved in child trafficking or other crimes involving children and uses all available tools to prosecute and remove violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF Dallas includes agents and officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration with prosecution led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
