Benjamin Arellano-Felix assumed leadership of the Arellano-Felix organization after Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo was arrested in 1989 for his involvement of the murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Benjamin manages and oversees all of the cartel's drug trafficking operations.

Benjamin was arrested on June 18, 1982 in Downey, California for receiving 100 kilos of cocaine smuggled through the San Ysidro border. He is currently a fugitive based on a federal indictment issued in San Diego on May 2, 1989 for conspiracy, money laundering, controlled substance trafficking, aiding and abetting and operating a criminal organization.

On May 11, 2000 U.S. authorities unsealed a 10-count indictment charging Benjamin Arellano-Felix and his brother Ramon with operating a drug smuggling organization and kidnapping and murdering rival drug traffickers, informants and law enforcement officers. Benjamin Arellano-Felix has also been included in the $2 million reward offered for information leading to the arrest of his brother Ramon, who has been on the FBI's most wanted list for three years.



DOB: 08/31/64
(Alt 11/29/46)
(Alt 07/29/45)

Ramon Arellano-Felix, considered the most violent brother, reportedly coordinates the organization's security, often recruiting personnel from violent street gangs. The AFO's security forces, described by Mexican law enforcement officials as paramilitary, are well-trained and well-armed. One of Ramon's responsibilities is to plan the murders of rival drug leaders, those law enforcement officials not on the take, and any members of the AFO who fall out of favor with the cartel leadership.

Ramon was issued an arrest warrant on June 16, 1993 for drug and arms violations. In September 1997, his picture was added to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. He had been secretly indicted by a San Diego grand jury for money-laundering and drug trafficking. Ramon and his brother Benjamin were indicted on May 11, 2000 for operating a drug smuggling operation and maintaining it through violence, threats and bribery. The two were also designated appropriate for sanctions on June 2, 2000 through the Kingpin Act, which targets the activities of significant foreign narcotics traffickers and their organizations on a worldwide basis.

The U.S. State Department has offered a $2 million reward for information leading to Ramon Arellano-Felix's capture.



DOB: 11/12/69

Reportedly the third-ranking member of the cartel after brothers Benjamin and Ramon, Francisco Javier controls the organization's finances. In 1997, An arrest warrant was issued for him in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, on drug and arms violations. He was also included along with his brothers Benjamin and Ramon in the $1 million reward offered by Mexican federal prosecutors for their capture.



DOB: 10/24/49

The eldest Arellano-Felix brother, Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix, coordinated the buying and selling of narcotics for the organization. On December 4, 1993, he was arrested by the Mexican Federal Judicial Police in Tijuana, who seized $150,000.00 from him. As of October, 2000, he is the only Arellano-Felix brother currently behind bars, Francisco is incarcerated at the Almoloya De Juarez Maximum Security Prison in Toluca, Mexico, on violations of illegal arms possession, drug charges, and complicity in the murder of Cardinal Posadas Ocampo. Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix continues to serve his seven-year sentence, but with time off for good behavior, he could be released at any time.



DOB: 11/10/56

Eduardo Arellano-Felix reportedly coordinates the smuggling of cocaine shipments to the United States. In 1982, he was arrested along with his brother Benjamin and wife Maria Esperanza Martinez de Arellano in Downey, California. They had received 100 kilograms of cocaine smuggled through the San Ysidro, California Point of Entry. In 1993, the Southern District Court of California issued a warrant for his arrest for weapons offenses.



DOB: 08/20/55

Carlos Arellano-Felix's role in the Tijuana Cartel is to reportedly coordinate the smuggling of narcotics into the U.S. He currently is not wanted in the United States.



DOB: 01/26/66

Luis Fernando Arellano-Felix allegedly runs the family-owned businesses, which are reportedly used for laundering the drug proceeds for the Arellano-Felix Organization. He currently is not wanted in the United States.



DOB: 03/17/61

The arrest of Ismael "El Mayel" Higuera Guerrero in May 2000 dealt a severe blow to the Arellano-Felix Organization. Reportedly a principal lieutenant for the AFO, Higuera Guerrero ran cross-border drug trafficking operations and directed the kidnapping, murder and torture of cartel rivals. He has been described as one of the main contacts between lower level drug smugglers and the Tijuana Cartel.

On May 4, 2000, Mexican soldiers and federal police arrested Higuera Guerrero and eight others after a raid on his beachfront home in Ensenada. Following his arrest, federal prosecutors in San Diego unsealed an indictment against Higuera, accusing him of drug trafficking and money laundering. The federal charges filed against him stem from the capture in 1995 of an airplane carrying 10 tons of cocaine. Higuera Guerrero also faces a homicide charge in a Baja California state court for his role in the 1994 slaying of Tijuana's federal police commander, Federico Benítez López. He has also been linked to the slayings of the three anti-drug agents in Tijuana last April, as well as the murder of Tijuana's police chief, Alfredo De la Torre Márquez last February.

Higuera Guerrero had formed a group of collaborators including his son Ismael Higuera Flores, who was arrested by the PGR in May of 1998 for possession of weapons and drugs and subsequently freed on bail. His other son, Gilberto Higuera Ávila, reportedly controls the cartel's drug trafficking operations out of Mexicali.

Mexican prosecutors filed new charges of drug trafficking and organized crime against Higuera Guerrero in May. He is now being held at the maximum-security prison Almoloya de Juárez prison in Mexico City.

On March 12, 2000, Mexican soldiers armed with automatic weapons nabbed Jesús "El Chuy" Labra Avilés, the AFO's financial mastermind, as he watched his son play football in Tijuana. Authorities on both sides of the border consider his arrest a further step toward dismantling the Arellano-Felix Organization. Accused of illegal possession of a firearm, Labra Avilés was flown to Mexico City, where a judge placed him under house arrest for three months. In May of 2000, Mexican prosecutors filed new charges against both Higuera Guerrero and Labra Avilés, accusing them of drug trafficking and organized crime. Labra was subsequently transferred to the maximum security prison Almoloya de Juarez.

Days after Labra's arrest, his lawyer, Gustavo Galvez Reyes, was found tortured and killed.

Manuel Aguirre Galindo, part of the Arellano-Felix Organization's "consejo de jefes" or "chief counsel" of high-ranking members, is allegedly responsible for establishing relationships with businesses in which the cartel invests its earnings.