Drag Queen Moonlighted As Drug Trafficker And Ran Border Stash House, Authorities Say

Axl Omar Palacios was a drag show host who allegedly moonlighted as a border drug trafficker. He was just caught allegedly running a drug stash house along the Texas border last month.

Palacios was seen by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents exiting an apartment in Hidalgo, Texas, before opening the trunk of a car that had just arrived from Mexico, according to court documents. The cosmetologist then allegedly began filling a wagon with “4-6 medium sized cardboard boxes” that he hauled into the apartment as the vehicle left.

Special Agent Mark Cruz testified during a hearing on Feb. 6 that the car had “alerts” tied to drug trafficking, according to ValleyCentral. Palacios was also a “self-employed cosmetologist who hosted drag shows,” the local news outlet reported, who “frequently posted photos on Facebook that featured makeup and brightly colored wigs.”

Cruz also noted that the wagon “appeared” to be “heavy” as “it looked like” Palacios “was having difficulties pulling it back into the apartment.”

The agents then saw Palacios exiting the apartment again while “pulling the same wagon loaded with two cardboard boxes,” which were placed in a car that soon drove away, court documents allege. A sheriff’s deputy pulled the car over and began a search, finding “two brown boxes containing 40 packages” weighing over 100 pounds that “contained a white powdery substance that tested positive” for cocaine.

“We located approximately 40 packages total, between the two boxes,” Cruz said.

The driver, Johan Eduardo Rivas Morales, said he picked up drugs from Palacios “multiple times” before, receiving a payment of roughly $3,000 for each load, Cruz said.

Palacios was later observed moving the alleged cocaine-filled boxes into his sister’s apartment in the same complex, according to court documents.

Federal agents seized 77 kilograms of cocaine upon searching the apartments.

Palacios, who is an American citizen, was arrested and hit with federal drug trafficking charges.

Along with allegedly trafficking drugs, Palacios hosted drag shows just across the border in Reynosa, Mexico, according to court documents.

Palacios regularly posted selfies wearing gaudy makeup on his Facebook page. He had worked as a cosmetologist for the last 12 years.

He allegedly admitted to transferring drugs to Johan Eduardo Rivas Morales “in the past.” He also said he received between $200 and $1,000 “depending on the quantity of narcotics transferred.”

Palacios pleaded not guilty to his charges Wednesday. If convicted, he faces ten years to life in federal prison.

“The case is very early on,” Palacios’ attorney Uriel A. Guajardo said, according to ValleyCentral. “We’re going to just try to see where the evidence leads us, to then determine where it goes.”