Ramón Arellano Félix

Standing {{height|cm=189}} and {{cvt|114.7|kg}}, Ramon Arellano Félix was allegedly one of the most ruthless members of the cartel and was a suspect in various murders. Arellano Félix ordered the 1998 massacre of nineteen members of Castro Ramirez family outside of Ensenada, Baja California. The family was related to an alleged associate of the Arellano Félix Cartel.{{Cite web|date=1998-09-18|title=18 Slain Execution-Style at Farm Near Ensenada|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-18-mn-24019-story.html|access-date=2021-02-09|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} The Ramirez family oversaw the marijuana production and transport to Tecate and Tijuana, and was active before the Arellanos overtook the region. By murdering the whole family, the Arellano Felix Cartel eliminated the last bastion to the Cartel's full control of the area. The massacre broke an unspoken pact amongst druglords: "don't touch the children."

While in hiding in Los Angeles in 1995, Arellano Félix was unwittingly the subject of a televised prank when he was approached outside Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood by Rupert Jee, who was filming a segment for the Late Show with David Letterman.[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/01/drug-enforcement-agency-mexico-drug-cartel/419100/ How DEA Agents Took Dowmn Mexico's Most Vicious Drug Cartel] David Epstein, The Atlantic (January/February 2016)[https://books.google.com/books?id=-WQ0EAAAQBAJ&dq=rupert+jee+ramon+arellano+felix&pg=PA91 El Chapo: The Untold Story of the World's Most Infamous Drug Lord] Noah Hurowitz (2021)

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, with Conspiracy to Import Cocaine and Marijuana in drug trafficking.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

On 1 June 2000, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Ramón under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act"), for his involvement in drug trafficking, along with eleven other international criminals.{{cite web|title=DESIGNATIONS PURSUANT TO THE FOREIGN NARCOTICS KINGPIN DESIGNATION ACT|url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/narco_designations_kingpin.pdf|website=United States Department of the Treasury|access-date=28 May 2014|page=1|date=15 May 2014}} 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.{{cite web|title=An overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act|url=http://www.assetsearchblog.com/uploads/file/drugs.pdf|publisher=United States Department of the Treasury|access-date=28 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528053616/http://www.assetsearchblog.com/uploads/file/drugs.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2014|page=1|date=2009}}

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.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} According to Jesús Zambada García (alias "El Mayo"), Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán ordered Árias Torres to enact the traffic stop and Arellano Félix's execution.{{Cite news|url=https://www.univision.com/noticias/narcotrafico/asesino-torturador-y-depredador-de-ninas-el-perfil-criminal-de-el-chapo-revelado-en-su-juicio|title=Asesino, torturador y depredador de niñas: el perfil criminal de 'El Chapo' revelado en su juicio|last=Alvarado|first=Isaias|date=9 February 2019|work=Univision|language=es}}

Arellano's older brother, Benjamín Arellano Félix, 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, was arrested with some associates at sea, by the United States Coast Guard. They were in international waters {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} off the coast of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. Francisco Javier was extradited to the U.S. on September 16, 2006.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

The only brother of the Arellano Félix cartel then at large, Eduardo Arellano Félix, was captured by the Mexican Army on 26 October 2008. At the time, the US State Department 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, a son of Eduardo Arellano Félix's sister Alicia.

At around 16:00 local time on 23 June 2014,{{cite news|title=Fernando Sánchez Arellano: 12 años operando en Tijuana antes de su captura|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2014/06/24/militares-capturan-en-tijuana-al-lider-de-los-arellano-felixfuentes|access-date=24 June 2014|agency=Turner Broadcasting System|publisher=CNNMéxico|date=24 June 2014|language=es}} Sánchez Arellano was arrested by soldiers of the Mexican Army and federal agents of the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR){{cite news|title=Suponen detención de Fernando Sánchez Arellano 'El Ingeniero'|url=http://www.zetatijuana.com/noticias/generalez/6286/suponen-detencion-de-fernando-sanchez-arellano-el-ingeniero|access-date=24 June 2014|publisher=Zeta|date=23 June 2014|language=es}}{{cite news|last1=Mosso|first1=Rubén|title=Ejército detiene a uno de los Arellano Félix|url=http://www.milenio.com/policia/Detienen_a_El_Ingeniero-lider_Cartel_de_Tijuana-hermanos_Arellano_Felix-Fernando_Sanchez_Arellano_0_323367662.html|access-date=24 June 2014|publisher=Milenio|date=24 June 2014|language=es}} at a

Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant in the Mesa de Otay borough in Tijuana, Baja California,{{cite news|last1=Otero|first1=Silvia|title="El Ingeniero" disfrutaba goles del Tri cuando fue detenido|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion-mexico/2014/impreso/-8216el-ingeniero-8217-disfrutaba-goles-del-tri-cuando-fue-detenido-216564.html|access-date=27 June 2014|publisher=El Universal (Mexico City)|date=25 June 2014|language=es}} while watching the FIFA World Cup game between Mexico and Croatia. Sánchez Arellano was wearing the Mexico national team jersey and had the team's colors painted on his face.{{cite news|last1=Dibble|first1=Sandra|title=Arellano drug gang leader captured in TJ|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jun/23/arellano-felix-fernando-sanchez-captured-tijuana/|access-date=24 June 2014|publisher=U-T San Diego|date=23 June 2014}} The arrest was made without a single shot fired.{{cite news|last1=Quiroz|first1=Carlos|title=Sin un solo disparo fue detenido 'El Ingeniero', confirma Rubido|url=http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/06/24/967088|access-date=24 June 2014|publisher=Excélsior|date=24 June 2014|language=es}} The security forces also confiscated US$100,000 he had with him at the moment of his arrest.{{cite news|last1=Muedano|first1=Marcos|title=Confirma gobierno federal detención de El Ingeniero|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion-mexico/2014/confirman-detencion-ingeniero-1019027.html|access-date=24 June 2014|publisher=El Universal (Mexico City)|date=24 June 2014|language=es|archive-date=27 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627112750/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion-mexico/2014/confirman-detencion-ingeniero-1019027.html|url-status=dead}}

In the 2017 Netflix and Univision series, El Chapo, 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.

File:RAF1.jpeg | Ramón

File:RamonArellanoFelix2.png | Fake ID retrieved from Ramón's body

{{Portal|Mexico|Biography|Law}}

• Illegal drug trade
• Mérida Initiative
• Mexican Drug War

{{reflist}}

• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990224022237/http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/felix.htm |date=February 24, 1999 |title=Felix' FBI top ten most wanted poster }}
• [https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/inl/narc/rewards/9114.htm U.S. Department of State rewards page for Ramón Arellano Félix]

{{Mexican Drug War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arellano Felix, Ramon}}

Category:1964 births

Category:2002 deaths

Ramón

Ramón

Category:Fugitives wanted by Mexico

Category:Guadalajara Cartel traffickers

Category:Mexican crime bosses

Category:Mexican drug traffickers

Category:People from Culiacán

Category:People sanctioned under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act

Category:People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Mexico

Category:Tijuana Cartel traffickers