Experts Provide Perspective On Cartel-Related Murder

By ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Celina Avila

EL PASO, Texas — “Compania” is the name of the cartel that murder victim Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana was a member of, according to a complaint affidavit obtained by the ABC-7 I-Team.

Who are they? One border expert said the name rings a bell.

“I’ve heard of the name before,” said UTEP professor Tony Payan.

According to the complaint affidavit, both Gonzalez Galeana and accused hitman Ruben Rodriguez Dorado were a part of the cartel.

“You have a number of groups including La Compania fighting with each other for the distribution of the drug trafficking…there really is no Juarez cartel per se any longer,” Payan said.

Payan said the Juarez cartel went away when the Mexican government went after the larger criminal organizations.

“They splinter into small groups that begin to compete against each other, and therefore you see also a larger number of bodies and executions because they are fighting for even smaller turf.”

Galeana’s identity as an informant was published before his death by the Mexican media, according to the affidavit.

Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said this is an example of why journalists south of the border need to practice more caution.

“Unfortunately in Mexico we don’t have, we have the freedom of the press but we don’t have the responsibilities that goes with it,” Reyes Ferriz said.

The affidavit says the accused killers ran Gonzalez Galeana’s license plates and even paid his cell phone bill to get his home address.

“These groups are very savvy, they’re bi-national, they operate on this side and that side and they know how to track people,” Payan said.

As far as recruiting U.S. soldiers and hitmen, Payan said, “There’s probably going to be many more cases than just one or two of soldiers that are helping the cartels or agents along the border that are allowing drugs to cross at ports of entry.”