At the Blinde Pig — an Edinburg bar with a Prohibition theme — the decor includes a poster of gangster Al Capone and a sign by the door that reads: “Welcome to the Speakeasy. No snitches allowed.”
The proprietor, Juan Carlos Carranza, pales in comparison to Al Capone. He does, however, know a few things about snitches.
In March, an informant told police that Carranza sold cocaine from the Blinde Pig, according to an affidavit signed by a member of the Edinburg Police Department Special Investigations Unit. After conducting a series of controlled buys, officers searched Carranza’s home and found 93 grams of cocaine.
More than four months later, though, state and federal court records don’t show any drug charges against Carranza.
“If there’s a pending criminal charge, we’re not privy to that information,” said attorney Juan “Sonny” Palacios Jr. of Edinburg, who represents Carranza.
According to the affidavit, which the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office filed in June as part of a civil forfeiture case, the Special Investigations Unit turned the criminal case over to Officer Joseph Lucio, who is assigned to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force.
DEA Special Agent Sammy Parks, a spokesman for the agency, declined to comment.
The District Attorney’s Office filed the civil forfeiture case on June 5, attempting to seize nearly $4,400 in cash and Carranza’s car. He doesn’t plan to contest the forfeiture.
“Sometimes it’s easier to walk away from one fight to continue fighting another,” Palacios said.
Carranza owns the Blinde Pig with his brother, Julio, through a company called CWIA Investments, according to documents filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission records.
Along with the bar, Carranza owned a business called Newmark Custom Homes. Customers accused Carranza of charging them thousands for construction jobs he never completed.
Three separate grand juries indicted Carranza in February, May and September 2019 on felony theft charges. He’s accused of stealing pallets of carpet, failing to pay a saleswoman and swindling customers.
The charges remain pending. Carranza, meanwhile, kept managing the Blinde Pig.
An informant approached the Special Investigations Unit with information about Carranza in March 2020.
“CI #005 is a new informant, but the information provided by him/her was deemed reliable,” according to the affidavit.
Officers provided the informant with money to buy cocaine from Carranza on four occasions, according to the affidavit. Two of the four drug deals took place at the Blinde Pig.
A judge approved a search warrant for the Blinde Pig and Carranza’s home on April 16.
Officers seized 93 grams of cocaine, three pistols, two cell phones and $4,160 from Carranza’s home, according to the affidavit. Seven $100 bills and three $20 bills found at Carranza’s house had serial numbers that matched bills used during the controlled buys.
They also seized $231 and a digital video recorder from the Blinde Pig.
Carranza agreed to speak with officers after they seized the cocaine, according to the affidavit. He confessed to selling cocaine for the past two years.
“Juan stated that he had been selling two ounces a month until October when he started buying two ounces and seven grams a month,” according to the affidavit. “Juan stated he would pay about $1,700.00 for the cocaine and would make a profit of about $1,400.00.”
The cocaine bust apparently didn’t hurt the Blinde Pig.
On April 18, just two days after investigators executed the search warrant, the Blinde Pig advertised six-packs of beer on Facebook.
The bar also received assistance from the city of Edinburg, which approved a $2,000 business grant for the Blinde Pig through the city’s COVID-19 stimulus program.
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission records list the bar’s license as “pending renewal.”
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Affidavit: Owner sold cocaine from Edinburg bar - KRGV
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