Juan Garza

Juan Raul Garza (November 18, 1956 – June 19, 2001) was an American murderer and drug lord who was executed by the United States federal government for three drug-related murders.

In addition, Garza was linked to at least five other drug-related murders in Texas and Mexico.

However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, after returning to Texas, Garza would become the head of a drug-trafficking enterprise that smuggled thousands of kilograms of marijuana from Mexico into the United States.

The organization was based in three states: Texas, Louisiana, and Michigan.

Garza's organization started with him and members of his group running small quantities of marijuana across the Mexican border.

But within a few years, Garza was making frequent trips to Oaxaca, where the marijuana was grown, and transporting it across the border via plane.

Garza's drug trafficking ring began to encounter problems.

He suffered dents in his profits after some of his shipments were seized by the police.

Garza's losses made him suspicious that some of his workers and associates were working with the police.

This distrust would ultimately culminate in the murders he ordered and personally committed.

In April 1990, Gilberto Matos became the first confirmed victim of Garza and his gang.

Matos was a bodyguard of 32-year-old Erasmo De La Fuente, a smuggler who worked with Garza.

Garza suspected that De La Fuente was responsible for a massive shipment (approximately 1,350 pounds) of marijuana being seized by the police.

Garza ordered his workers to murder De La Fuente.

However, they ran into trouble since De La Fuente had several bodyguards, including Matos.

After Garza ran out of patience, he ordered two of his men, Manuel Flores and his cousin, Israel Flores, to break into Matos's shop and wait for De La Fuente or Matos.

If only Matos appeared, they were told to kill him as a warning to De La Fuente of what was to come.

When Matos arrived alone, Israel and Manuel forced him to lie down on the floor and then waited to see if De La Fuente would appear.

When that didn't happen, Manuel shot Matos in the back of the head.

Garza paid Israel and Manuel with cash and a car for the hit.

Five months later, Garza took Israel and his cousin, Jesus Flores, to De La Fuente's nightclub to kill him.

Israel became nervous and drank liquor to calm his nerves, but had to be dropped off in an alley after drinking too much.

Jesus got his brother, Manuel, and returned to the nightclub.

When De La Fuente left and got into his car, Manuel shot him twice.

Jesus fired shots into the air to distract the police.

After hiding in a ditch for a few hours, Jesus was picked up by Garza.

Garza paid the Flores brothers $10,000 each for the hit.

In January 1991, 35-year-old Thomas Rumbo was personally executed by Garza.

Rumbo, one of Garza's associates, had been tasked with inspecting trucks with marijuana.

After federal officers observed him loading 360 pounds of marijuana into a trailer, they approached him and told him what they saw.

Rumbo agreed to turn over the entire shipment.

In an attempt to hide what he'd done, he cut a hole in the fence surrounding the trailer and claimed the drugs were stolen.

Garza was not convinced.

He drove over to Rumbo's house with two of his workers and made him get into his truck.

He was executed in 2001, eight days after Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Juan Raul Garza, the son of Mexican migrant workers, was born in Brownsville, Texas, but spent his early years in Michigan.

In his teenage years, he worked in the fields with his parents, both of whom were migrant farmhands from Mexico, and sold fruit door to door.

Garza initially slept on mats, but eventually saved enough money for a bed.

Although he dropped out of high school, Garza owned a successful construction business.

He was well known in the community as a devoted father of four children and the son-in-law of one of the town's most respected pastors.