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Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano (b. ca. 1977), commonly referred to by the alias El Ingeniero ("The Engineer"), is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the
Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel ( Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization ( Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, t ...
, a
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...
organization based in
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
,
Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Me ...
. He competed with three other major cartels, the Juárez Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, and the
Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in ill ...
, for the illegal drug corridors into the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. The Tijuana Cartel (or Arellano Félix Organization) has been described as one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico. The Tijuana Cartel was initially composed of seven brothers and four sisters, who inherited the organization from Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo upon his incarceration in Mexico in 1989 for his complicity in the murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena. Following the death or arrest of the Arellano Félix family members, and especially following the arrest of his uncle Eduardo Arellano Félix on October 25, 2008, Luis Fernando Sánchez took the cartel leadership. He is the son of Alicia María Arellano Félix and not Enedina Arellano Félix as is often reported.


Sánchez Arellano lieutenants

On November 7, 2011 Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha, nicknamed ''El Sillas'' and ''La Rueda'', was captured by the Mexican Army in the border city of
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
. He was the second-in-command in the Tijuana cartel, and considered by Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional as "one of the most violent" drug traffickers in Mexico, responsible for a number of murders. Sillas Rocha, under the tutelage of Sánchez Arellano, fought Teodoro García Simental (''El Teo'') for the control of the criminal activities in Tijuana between 2008 and 2010. He is also accused of kidnapping three women who were relatives of Ismael Zambada García (''El Mayo''), a drug baron of the Sinaloa cartel. Sillas Rocha was believed to be retaliating for the disappearance of his sister in 2010.


Bounty

The Attorney General of Mexico offered a $30 million peso (US$2.5 million) bounty for information leading to his arrest.


Arrest

At around 16:00 local time on June 23, 2014, Sánchez Arellano was arrested by soldiers of the
Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...
and federal agents of the
Procuraduría General de la República The Attorney General of the Republic is the head of the Attorney General's Office (''Fiscalía General de la República, FGR''; prior to 2019, ''Procuraduría General de la República, PGR'') and the Federal Public Ministry of the United Mexi ...
(PGR) at a Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant in the Mesa de Otay borough in Tijuana, Baja California, while watching the
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
game between Mexico and Croatia. Sánchez Arellano was wearing the Mexico national team jersey and had the team's colors painted on his face. The arrest was made without a single shot fired. The security forces also confiscated US$100,000 he had with him at the moment of his arrest. The following day, he was transferred to the SEIDO installations, Mexico's organized crime investigatory agency, in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley ...
to give his statement and be interrogated by law enforcement. The Mexican government accused Sánchez Arellano of being involved in organized crime, drug trafficking, and of violating Mexico's Federal Law of Firearms and Explosives. Authorities also believed he was responsible for several extortions, kidnappings, and homicides in the Baja California municipalities of
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
, Playas de Rosarito,
Tecate Tecate () is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across the Mexico-US border from Tecate, California. As of 2019, the city had a population of 108,860 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area has a population of 132,406 inh ...
and Ensenada. On 25 June 2014, the PGR's Agency of Criminal Investigation (Spanish: ''Agencia de Investigación Criminal'') officially confirmed the identity of Sánchez Arellano using DNA testing and photograph comparisons. The agency used the DNA samples the government had on its database of his relatives who were also involved in organized crime: his uncles Ramón, Benjamín, and Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix, along with his alleged mother Enedina. The results showed that Sánchez Arellano is biologically related to them and the Arellano Félix crime family, as initially presumed by law enforcement. In addition, the agency used at least five photographs law enforcement had of Sánchez Arellano to confirm similarities in its facial features. The images analyzed corresponded to one that circulated on the Internet, one that was from an I.D. card the drug lord took at Sam's Club under the alias Fernando Canalles Villanueva, one from his Baja California driver's license under the name Fernando Canales Villanueva, one from his passport under the name Fernando Canales Villanueva, one from the DEA's database, and the one taken during his arrest.


Imprisonment and trial

On 27 June 2014, Sánchez Arellano was transferred to the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 (also known as "Altiplano") maximum-security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico. The imprisonment was allowed after a federal court found sufficient evidence against him. Three days later, a federal court in
Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...
sent his trial to motion for his alleged criminal activities.


See also

* Mexican Drug War


Sources


Footnotes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arellano, Luis Fernando Sanchez Fugitives Fugitives wanted by the United States Fugitives wanted on organised crime charges Inmates of the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 Living people Mexican drug traffickers People from Tijuana Tijuana Cartel traffickers Year of birth missing (living people)