Department of State Offers Reward for Information to Bring Mexican Transnational Criminal to Justice

U.S. Department of State announces a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez.

US Department of the State- Photo by U.S. Department of State (IIP Bureau)

Oct 13, Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of the state: Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez has been a high-ranking member of the Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) Drug Cartel with specific responsibility for maintaining control of the San Pedro Garza Garcia/Monterrey Plazas.

In this role, Villarreal-Hernandez oversees an organization responsible for the importation of cocaine and marijuana into the United States and commits violent acts within Mexico and the United States to maintain his organization’s power and status. Villarreal-Hernandez is currently charged in the United States for his role in directing a cartel-related murder-for-hire of a Mexican defence attorney in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, Texas, in 2013.

This reward is offered under the Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP). More than 75 transnational criminals and major narcotics traffickers have been brought to justice under the TOCRP and the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) since the NRP’s inception in 1986. The Department has paid more than $130 million in rewards for information leading to apprehensions.

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) manages the TOCRP in close coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI), and other U.S. government agencies. These actions demonstrate the Department’s commitment to supporting law enforcement efforts and a whole of government approach to combating drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.