Francisco Javier Arellano Félix

Francisco Javier Arellano Félix (born 11 December 1969), the brother of Ramón Arellano Félix, is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Tijuana Cartel involved in drug-smuggling operations from Mexico to the United States.

The Tijuana Cartel is one of the three large Mexican drug cartels, along with the Gulf Cartel and the Juárez Cartel. It is well-known for its employment of enforcers recruited from Mexican and Los Angeles street gangs. In addition to enforcers, many Latin American street gangsters were trained to become assassins in the cartel, which has a reputation for extreme brutality and violence. At its height in the late 1990s, the cartel was believed to be responsible for supplying nearly half the cocaine sold in the United States.

The gang made headlines in January 2006 after it was discovered they had dug tunnels from Tijuana, Baja California, into the United States at Otay Mesa, California.

Capture and Prosecution

Arellano Félix, nicknamed "El Tigrillo" (little Tiger) was captured by the coastguardsmen aboard the USCGC "Monsoon" on August 16, 2006, while fishing on the "Dock Holiday" some 25 km off the coast of Baja California Sur, in Mexican waters. The Drug Enforcement Administration had received a tip about his whereabouts. A US$5 million bounty had been offered for his capture, but the information leading to his capture was apparently not from someone seeking the reward [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060818/news_1n18arellano.html] . He is currently detained in a federal jail in San Diego, California. On November 5, 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in September 2007 to running a criminal enterprise and laundering money. [http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/11/mexican-drug-lo.html] Also, the FBI is looking for one more brother of the Arellano Félix cartel, Eduardo Arellano Félix. The FBI is offering a reward up to US$5,000,000 with information leading to the arrest of this fugitive.

ee also

*Juan Jesús Cardinal Posadas Ocampo

References

*Sniffen, Michael J. (August 16, 2006). Feds Arrest Mexican Drug Kingpin. "Associated Press"
*Enriquez, Sam, and Greg Krikorian (August 17, 2006). U.S. Authorities Take Custody of Drug Kingpin. "Los Angeles Times"