Criminal penalty Life Sentence | Name Francisco Arellano | |
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Criminal charge Organized crime, money laundering Similar Benjamín Arellano Félix, Eduardo Arellano Félix, Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix Nationality Mexican | ||
Francisco Javier Arellano Félix
Francisco Javier Arellano Félix (born 11 December 1969), the brother of Ramón Arellano Félix, is a former Mexican drug lord and leader of the Tijuana Cartel involved in drug-smuggling operations from Mexico to the United States.
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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.
Kingpin Act sanction
On 1 June 2004, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Arellano Félix under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act"), for his involvement in drug trafficking along with nine other international criminals and two entities. The act prohibited U.S. citizens and companies from doing any kind of business activity with him, and virtually froze all his assets in the U.S.
Capture and prosecution
Arellano Félix, nicknamed "El Tigrillo" (Little Tiger) and also "El Titi", 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 international waters. Arellano was brought into United States Coast Guard Sector San Diego by USCG Cutter Petrel, Commanded by Master Chief Petty Officer M. Martin. 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. On November 5, 2007, in September 2007, he received a life sentence after admitting guilt for operating a criminal enterprise and engaging in money laundering. His attorney mentioned that arrangements were being made for his transfer to the supermax facility ADX Florence, although the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BoP) holds the ultimate authority on his final incarceration location.
In June 2015, Arellano Félix's sentence was reduced to 23 1/2 years for cooperation with authorities during his incarceration.