Ramón Eduardo Arellano Félix (August 31, 1964 – February 10, 2002) was a Mexican drug lord who alongside his brothers founded and led 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, the ...

(a.k.a. the Arellano-Félix Organization). He was the leader of the enforcement wing of the organization until his assassination on February 10, 2002.

Biography

Standing and , Ramon Arellano Félix was allegedly one of the most ruthless members of the cartel and was a suspect in various murders. Arellano Félix had been linked by Mexican police to the 1998 massacre of twelve members of a family outside of Ensenada, Baja California. The family was related to an alleged associate of the Arellano Félix Cartel. While in hiding in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 1995, Arellano Félix was unwittingly the subject of a televised prank when he was approached outside

Mann's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chines ...

in Hollywood by Rupert Jee, who was filming a segment for the '' Late Show with David Letterman''. On 18 September 1997, Ramon Arellano Félix became the 451st fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. Leading to his Most Wanted Fugitive listing in the United States, he had been charged in a sealed indictment in the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

, with Conspiracy to Import Cocaine and Marijuana in drug trafficking.

Kingpin Act sanction

On 1 June 2000, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

sanctioned Ramón under the

Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, better known as the Kingpin Act, is landmark federal legislation in the United States intended to address international narcotics trafficking by imposing United States sanctions on foreign persons ...

(sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act"), for his involvement in drug trafficking, along with eleven other international criminals. 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.

Death and aftermath

On 10 February 2002, Ramón Arellano Félix was killed in a gunfight in Bugambilia Street, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, where he was stopped due to a traffic infraction by Mexican police officer, Ángel Antonio Árias Torres. Arellano Félix drew his gun and mortally wounded Árias Torres twice in the chest, who fired back and killed Arellano Félix with a single bullet in the head while falling to the ground and dying. According to Jesús Zambada García (alias "El Rey"),

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of th ...

ordered his execution. Arellano's older brother,

Benjamín Arellano Félix Benjamín Arellano Félix (born 12 March 1952) is a Mexican former drug lord who alongside his brothers founded and led the Tijuana Cartel or "Arellano-Félix Organization” until his arrest in March 2002. Biography Benjamín Arellano Fél ...

, the cartel's mastermind, was arrested weeks later on 9 March. On 14 August 2006, the youngest of the Arellano brothers,

Francisco Javier Arellano Félix Francisco Javier Arellano Félix (born 11 December 1969) is a former Mexican drug lord who alongside his brothers founded and led the Tijuana Cartel (a.k.a. the Arellano-Félix Organization) until his capture by the United States Coast Guard ...

, was arrested with some associates at sea, by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

. They were in international waters off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. Francisco Javier was extradited to the U.S. on September 16, 2006. The only brother of the Arellano Félix cartel then at large,

Eduardo Arellano Félix Eduardo Arellano Félix (born October 11, 1956) is a Mexican drug trafficker, brother of Benjamín, Ramón, Javier and sister, Enedina, all drug traffickers. The Arellano-Félix Organization, also known as the Tijuana Cartel, has been responsi ...

, was captured by 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 ...

on 26 October 2008. At the time, the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

had been offering a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to his arrest. According to a Mexican official, at the time of Eduardo Arellano Félix's capture, control of the cartel passed to

Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano 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, a drug trafficking organization based in Tijuana, Baja Cal ...

, a son of

's sister Alicia. At around 16:00 local time on 23 June 2014, Sánchez Arellano was arrested by soldiers of the

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 Mexic ...

(PGR) at a

Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., with franchisees in North & South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa. In 2016, ''Entrepreneur'' listed Carl's Jr. as No. 54 ...

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 ha ...

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.

In popular culture

In the 2017 Netflix and Univision series, ''

El Chapo EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

'', Rolf Petersen plays Ramón Avendaño (a fictionalized portrayal of Ramón Arellano Félix). Arellano Félix is portrayed by Manuel Masalva in the 2018 crime drama, '' Narcos: Mexico''. A 2003 Mexican film, "El fin de los Arellano" ("The End of the Arellanos"), featured characters supposedly based on the Arellano brothers; however, its plot bore practically no resemblance to the actual events. The Arellano brothers were allegedly an inspiration for the two secondary characters of "the Obregón brothers", featured in the 2000 US film ''

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...

''.

Gallery

File:RamonArellanoFelix1.png , Ramón File:RamonArellanoFelix2.png , Fake ID retrieved from Ramón's body File:The Arellano Félix family.png , Picture of the Arellano-Felix Family (Ramon not present)

References

External links

*
U.S. Department of State rewards page for Ramón Arellano Félix
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arellano Felix, Ramon 1964 births 2002 deaths Fugitives Fugitives wanted by Mexico Guadalajara Cartel traffickers Mexican crime bosses Mexican drug traffickers People from Culiacán People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Mexico Tijuana Cartel traffickers