A Mexican drug lord wanted for ordering the assassination of a man in the Dallas suburb of Southlake was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Federal authorities are offering up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of the man who continues to operate in Mexico and is responsible for violent executions in Nuevo Leon.
The FBI announced the addition of Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez to the Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives and offers up to $1 million for information leading to his capture.
Known as “El Gato,” Villarreal Hernandez is wanted for the 2013 murder of Gulf Cartel attorney-turned-informant Jesus Guerrero Chapa. Guerrero Chapa was living in Southlake when gunmen murdered him after a surveillance operation. Villarreal had a personal vendetta against Guerrero Chapa, who he blamed for the murder of his father. While federal authorities have arrested and convicted three men in connection with the case, El Gato remains at large.
In 2018, Breitbart Texas published the first known image of El Gato. Once a top commander with Beltran Leyva Cartel, El Gato branched off and established his own organization in the ritzy suburb of San Pedro in the Monterrey metropolitan area. During his exit, Villarreal managed to kill several old associates and bosses to gain operational independence. In addition to drug trafficking, El Gato also oversees money laundering ventures and extortion rackets.
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.
Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report