Mexico’s federal government announced the extradition of a cartel boss wanted in Texas for helping to orchestrate the 2013 murder of a Mexican attorney-turned-informant in the Dallas area.

On Sunday night, Mexican authorities took Ramon “El Mon, Ramoncillo, or El Gatillo” Villarreal Hernandez from a federal detention center to the Mexico City International Airport where they turned him over to the U.S. Marshals to make his initial court appearance in connection with the murder charges.

Detectives with the Nuevo Leon State Investigations Agency arrested El Mon in May 2018 while serving a federal extradition warrant in connection with the Dallas area murder.

Villarreal is the brother of Rodolfo “El Gato” Villarreal, a former federal police officer who became the former leader of the Beltran Leyva Cartel in the Monterrey area, who then established an independent organization. Breitbart Texas was the first outlet to publish photographs of El Gato, who remains a fugitive in Mexico.

Both El Gato and El Mon allegedly sent Mexican police officers Jesus Gerardo “Chuy” Ledezma, his son Jesus Gerardo Ledezma Campano, and their relative Jose Luis Cepeda Cortez to stalk Guerrero Chapa. For several months, the men placed surveillance cameras throughout Chapa’s neighborhood in Southlake, Texas, and set GPS trackers on the attorney’s vehicle. Once the Mexican cops were able to develop patterns in Guerrero Chapa’s movements, Villarreal sent two hitmen from Mexico who killed Guerrero Chapa as he came out of a shopping center in the Dallas area. Despite Guerrero Chapa’s ties to the Gulf Cartel, the murder is linked to the Villarreal brothers–who blamed the attorney for their father’s death.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report