involvement in the war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels over control of the lucrative drug corridor into El Paso. But much about the infamous killings—like so many details of the violence in Juarez—had, until recently, remained a mystery.

On Jan. 31, the man accused of orchestrating a slew of murders, including the 2010 assassinations of the three people linked to the U.S. Consulate, went on trial in U.S. District Court in El Paso. The trial pried open the secrets of the cartel war in Juarez that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives.

Arturo “Benny” Gallegos was the leader of Barrio Azteca, a gang formed in the 1980s among federal prisoners in Texas that grew into a dangerous criminal enterprise spanning the border cities of Juarez and El Paso. Barrio Aztecabecame an enforcement arm of the Juarez Cartel when the cartel was fighting for control of the El Paso corridor. In return, Barrio Azteca received discounted shipments of cocaine, heroin and marijuana, and rose in stature in the West Texas criminal underworld.

A former hitman from Barrio Azteca who reported to Benny Gallegos took the witness stand on Feb. 11 against his former boss. Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo, alias “The Camel,” was a lead enforcer for Barrio Azteca after the gang formed its alliance with the Juarez Cartel in 2008. The Camel was one of the most violent men in Juarez. He told the jury that in the first eight months of 2009, he killed 800 people, and after that he lost count. He said he often beheaded and