Wealthy suburb rocked by suspected cartel murder-for-hire shows drug lords' reach across US: expert

After a high-ranking cartel subordinate accused of a murder-for-hire strategy successful a affluent United States suburb was extradited to the U.S. successful precocious February to basal trial, experts connected cartel operations pass that mean Americans could beryllium caught successful the crossfire of Mexican cartel feuds. 

According to the Department of Justice, Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, known arsenic "El Gato," was brought to the U.S. to look justness for his alleged orchestration of a execution that took spot successful May 2013 successful Southlake, an affluent assemblage extracurricular Dallas, Texas. 

Villarreal Hernandez is simply a Mexican nationalist and erstwhile person of the Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) Drug Cartel, whose hired cartel goons allegedly stalked and murdered Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, an lawyer and U.S. authorities informant who represented the rival Gulf Cartel, authorities said.

Guerrero Chapa was gunned down successful a daytime shooting successful a engaged Southlake buying halfway portion helium and his woman were returning to their vehicle. 

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Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez is accused of an interstate stalking and conspiracy to perpetrate murder-for-hire strategy that near a 43-year-old antheral dormant successful May 2013. (FBI)

The sidesplitting successful an American assemblage specified arsenic Southlake shows that mean Americans should beryllium much vigilant, some successful their regular lives and online, arsenic cartel members are progressively embedding themselves wrong communities crossed the U.S., experts say.

"The reply is yes, the cartels person decidedly infiltrated into the United States," Jarrod Sadulski, proprietor of Sadulski Enterprises, told Fox News Digital. 

Sadulski worked astatine the Department of Homeland Security via the Coast Guard for 26 years, with extended acquisition successful quality trafficking, counter-terrorism and homeland security.

"So due to the fact that of the unfastened borders the past 4 years, determination is an exponentially higher magnitude of transgression atrocious actors successful the United States, to see cartel members," helium said. "And truthful wherever radical should ever stay vigilant, present is the clip for a heightened level of vigilance due to the fact that of the radical that person been brought into the United States."

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Juan Jesus Guerrero-Chapa, the idiosyncratic lawyer for the person of the Gulf cartel and a authorities informant, was fatally changeable connected May 22, 2013, aft helium and his woman were ambushed arsenic they sat successful their Range Rover astatine Southlake Town Square, authorities person said. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram archive/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Ali Hopper works with Sadulski and is besides the laminitis of a nonprofit called GUARD Against Trafficking. Both person testified earlier Congress regarding their probe and expertise with Mexican cause cartels.

Hopper said that younger, newer groups similar Tren de Aragua and their members are acold much convulsive than their cartel predecessors. 

"They run with impunity," she said. "They don't person immoderate respect for life, whether it's the beingness of an big oregon a child. And they volition woody successful immoderate makes the astir wealth the fastest. And the caller defender has virtually nary structure. It's benignant of similar endurance of the fittest."

The brace besides noted that cartel members are making much of an effort to blend in. Some person stopped getting identifying tattoos, which utilized to marque them casual targets for instrumentality enforcement. Many person besides started morganatic businesses successful the U.S. to launder wealth through. 

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Mexican marines seized an RPG-7 rocket launcher, manus grenades, firearms, cocaine and subject uniforms from alleged members of the Zetas cause cartel. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)

Villarreal Hernandez blamed Guerrero Chapa for the decease of his father, which was his motive for the alleged murder-for-hire plot, authorities said. 

After spending much than 2 years connected the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List, Villarreal Hernandez was captured successful 2023 by Mexican authorities successful Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico. 

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He is present successful the U.S. to basal proceedings connected charges of interstate stalking and murder-for-hire, some of which transportation maximum sentences of beingness successful situation oregon death.