San Diego Criminal Attorneys Blog
The oldest brother of Mexico’s highly feared Arellano Felix drug clan, Francisco Rafael, was murdered in Baja California. Rafael was shot to death by a gunman wearing a clown costume at his rented beach house in the Baja beach resort of Los Cabos. The attorney general’s office in Baja California Sur state relayed that relatives of Rafael confirmed his identity at the scene of the crime. A graphic photo from the scene showed his body in a grotesque form lying on the floor inside the house. Authorities are investigating the motive behind the killer and any connection to his clown disguise, as both are yet to be uncovered. According to an official at the Baja California Sur state prosecutor’s office, the killer’s clown costume was a complete head to toe get-up including a wig and a round red nose. Sadly, this murder is just one violent act of many related to the clan.
The Arellano Felix drug clan is known for its violence and brutality as it ruled the drug trade in Tijuana throughout the 1990’s. Surprisingly, Arellano Felix was already in prison when the gang rose to power. Kirby stated, “He (Arellano) was never really part of the leadership of the big organization, mostly because he was in jail in Mexico. He was arrested before they became what they really became.” In 1993, Arellano was arrested and sentenced to 10 years for aiding the murder of Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and weapon possession. Due to his illegal past, Mexican officials were heavily worried that upon his release from jail, Felix would return to drug trafficking. Out of desperation to keep this from happening, Mexican officials asked their U.S. counterparts to push his extradition as his current sentence reached completion. Former federal prosecutor in San Diego, John Kirby, found enough evidence to bring charges on the 1980 drug case and helped co-write an indictment in 2003 against the Arellano Felix cartel. Finally in 2006, Arellano Felix was extradited to the U.S. facing charges relating to the 1980 case when he sold cocaine to an undercover police officer in the United States. After being sentenced to six years in prison on these drug charges, he was granted parole and released in 2008 before being deported back to Mexico.
Sources:
“Eldest of Mexico’s Arellano Felix Drug Clan Killed”– U-T San Diego, October 19, 2013