Judge stops extradition to the US of José Rodolfo Villarreal, alleged leader of Los Beltrán Leyva

The Sixth District Judge of Amparo in Criminal Matters in Mexico City, Juan Mateo Brieba de Castro, granted a suspension to Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez“The cat“, alleged leader of the criminal organization The Beltran Leyvawhich allows him to stop his extradition to the United States.

“The provisional suspension is granted with respect to the acts claimed consisting of the extradition order and its execution, as well as the arrest warrant for extradition purposes and its execution, so that they are not executed and the petitioner remains in the place where He is being held at the disposal of this District Court, only in what refers to his personal freedom, and he is not turned over to the Government of the United States of America, nor to any other State”, determined the judge.

Likewise, it set 9:49 a.m. on January 16 for the holding of the incidental hearing.

Villarreal Hernández was arrested on January 7, 2023 in Atizapán de Zaragoza, State of Mexico by elements of the Secretary of the Navy and agents of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) with the support of the National Anti-Kidnapping Coordination (CONASE).

He was one of the most wanted people in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI for its acronym in English), since 2013. A million dollars was offered in exchange for information on his whereabouts.

In 2018, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas unsealed an indictment against Villarreal Hernández of interstate harassment and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. He is allegedly responsible for orchestrating the murder-for-hire of a 43-year-old male victim on May 22, 2013 in Southlake, Texas.

The investigation, led by the field office of the FBI in Dallas, revealed that the victim was harassed by a group of people from The Beltran Leyva which Villareal directed as of March 2011.

According to the FBI, Villarreal Hernández allegedly holds an active leadership position in the Beltrán Leyva drug trafficking organization.

About this detainee, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI Dallas, James Dwyer, said Tuesday: “his arrest is the next step to achieve justice for the family of the victim, as well as for the citizens of Southlake who were shocked by the brutal murder that occurred in your town”.

Villarreal Hernández was person number 524 on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

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