Security guard accused of selling marijuana at Mission High School
Mission TX March 27, 2023 A security guard at Mission High School was arrested Wednesday after administrators caught him selling marijuana to a student.
The Mission Police Department charged James Guerrero, 26, of Alton, a security guard employed by MLG Protection Services, with possession of marijuana in a drug-free zone.
“It is my belief that the security company should have vetted their security officers before sending them to a school,” said Mission school board Trustee Jerry Zamora. “This is why we have the security officers there — to protect our kids and not hurt them in any way.”
Asked about the incident, the CEO of MLG Protection Services released a statement on Thursday night.
“I am very disappointed in the employee that was arrested yesterday. I nor my company’s core values condone this type of behavior. We conduct quarterly drug tests, background checks and have strict policies in place to minimize these kinds of risks,” according to the statement. “This employee came to us fully licensed from DPS, which means a federal background check was made by DPS as well before issuing him his license. Mr. Guerrero, however, was immediately terminated and offered no severance of any type, and we will continue our strict adherence to our policies and procedures to prevent this type of situation from re-occurring. I apologize to my community and Mission CISD for this isolated incident.”
A police officer arrested Guerrero on Wednesday afternoon.
Administrators showed the officer text messages between Guerrero and a 15-year-old student. Guerrero “gave the student different prices depending on the type of marihuana,” according to Mission Municipal Court records.
The police officer also searched Guerrero’s lunch box, which contained two baggies of marijuana that weighed nearly 1.2 ounces.
During an interview with investigators, Guerrero “admitted that someone had delivered the marihuana to him at the school bus barn,” according to court records, and “he had offered to sell ‘bud’ to the student for $50 dollars.”
Wednesday wasn’t the first time Guerrero had been arrested on drug charges.
In May 2022, the Mission Police Department charged Guerrero with possession of a small amount of marijuana and cocaine. He spent more than three months in jail.
The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office dropped the drug charges after Guerrero pleaded guilty to forgery of a financial instrument, a state jail felony, in another case.
State District Judge Mario E. Ramirez Jr. placed Guerrero on community supervision for five years.
Guerrero remained on community supervision while he worked at Mission High School.
“It is a requirement of the law, and of the contract it signed with Mission CISD for MLG to clear its security personnel through the Texas Department of Public Safety criminal history clearinghouse before assigning an officer to a district campus. Upon learning of the arrest, Mission CISD directed MLG to provide records of its compliance with these requirements to the district for review by district personnel,” according to a statement released by Mission CISD. “Pending such review Mission CISD will suspend the utilization of MLG as a security service provider. The district has requested local law enforcement to provide additional security personnel to ensure the safety of our students and staff.”
Other local school districts, including La Joya ISD, McAllen ISD and Edinburg CISD, employ police officers to keep campuses safe. Mission CISD, though, depends on a mix of security guards and police officers provided by the city of Mission and the city of Alton.
“We really do need our own police department,” said Zamora, the school board trustee, who added that Mission CISD police officers would undergo thorough background checks and receive more training than contract security guards.
Guerrero remained at the Hidalgo County jail on Friday afternoon and couldn’t be reached for comment.
