Benjamin Arellano Félix

Benjamin "El Min" Arellano Félix (born March 12, 1952 in Culiacán ) is a Mexican drug dealer and the former head of the Tijuana cartel , which is also known as the Arrellano Félix organization .

Criminal career

From his youth, when he was 16 years old, Benjamin had dealt with drug lords like Ernesto Fonseca “Don Neto” Carrillo , co-founder of the Guadalajara cartel .

The Arellano Félix family left Culiacán in the late 1970s and began smuggling cocaine into Los Angeles County , where authorities learned of Benjamín and his brother Eduardo after they were arrested for possessing two kilos of cocaine. In the early 1980s, the eldest brother, Benjamin, established himself in Tijuana , where he and his brother Ramón began planning the multi-million dollar business that would eventually expand to the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. At the height of their network during the 1990s, they were responsible for supplying between 40 and 70 percent of the cocaine trade in the United States. The brothers are charged with a wide variety of crimes, including the assassination of Archbishop of Guadalajara Cardinal Juan in May 1993 and the assassination attempt on journalist Jesús Blancornelas in late 1997. With large amounts of bribes estimated at $ 1 million per week for Mexican politicians and police commanders, the organization was able to buy various protections.

Benjamín managed and oversaw all of the cartel's drug trafficking activities. He has been on the run since 1989 on charges filed in San Diego on May 2, 1989 of conspiracy, money laundering, drug trafficking, and running a criminal organization.

It was the Arellano Félix brothers who declared war on Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García and his partners El Chapo and Héctor "El Mayo" Palma Salazar in 1992 because they owed them $ 20 million for importing drugs via their route to the USA. Between 1989 and 1992 they controlled all transfer routes to California and Arizona . With El Chapo's first imprisonment in 1993, the Arellano Félix brothers won the battle.

The US authorities opened a ten-point charge against Benjamin and his brother Ramón on May 11, 2000, accusing them of running a drug smuggling organization and kidnapping and murdering rival drug traffickers, informants and police officers. The US State Department has offered a $ 2 million reward for information leading to Ramón's capture.

On June 2, 2000, both brothers were listed by the United States Department of the Treasury as being involved in drug smuggling under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act . This prohibits US citizens and companies from doing business with them and has frozen virtually all of their assets in the US.

Arrest and conviction

The DEA learned that Benjamin's eldest daughter had a very recognizable and rare facial deformity and that she was the "soft core" in her father's violent life. By looking for her, they found her father. Benjamin Arellano Félix was arrested on March 9, 2002 by the Mexican army in the Mexican state of Puebla . A month earlier, on February 10th, his brother Ramón was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop after he was shot by Ramón and later died from his wounds. The brother Francisco Javier took over the management of the organization.

Benjamín was extradited to the United States on April 29, 2011 on charges of cocaine trafficking in California. He pleaded guilty to extortion and money laundering conspiracy on January 4, 2012, and was sentenced on April 2, 2012 to 25 years in prison. At the end of his sentence, he will be sent back to Mexico, where he will serve an additional 22 years in prison.

Some items seized during his arrests are on display in the Museo del Enervante in Mexico City . The authorities are unsure where Benjamin's money is, other than some real estate investments in Tijuana. Mexican officials say it was invested in US real estate, while their US counterparts say much of it is hidden in Mexico as cash.

Movie and TV

• 2017: Portrayal in the film character Benjamín Avendaño by Carlos Hernán Romo, in the series El Chapo .
• 2018: Representation in the series Narcos: Mexico , by Alfonso Dosal .

literature

• Farrah Fresnedo, Juan Reyna: El extraditado. Benjamin Arellano Félix . Grijalbo, 2014, ISBN 978-6-07312404-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Debate - El extraditado: la historia de Benjamin Arellano Félix
2. ↑ Vice News - Last Link to the Tijuana Cartel Gets Arrested While Celebrating Mexico's World Cup Win
3. ↑ Focus on Latin America - New speculations about the murder of Cardinal Posadas ( Memento of December 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ NoticiasYa - Atentado contra periodista Blancornelas, 19 años de impunidad: ZETA
5. ^ ABC News - How Officials Jolted a Cocaine Cartel
6. ^ Frontline - The Business - Arellano-Felix Cartel
7. ↑ Aristegui Noticias - Cártel Arellano Félix: 23 años impunes de lavado de dinero
8. ↑ United States Department of the Treasury - An overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act
9. ↑ The Standard - Most important drug boss in Mexico captured
10. ↑ Carmen Boullosa & Mike Wallace - ¡Enough! The Mexico Case: Why We Need a New Global Drug Policy
11. ↑ 20 minutes - This is the most dangerous woman in Mexico
12. ↑ Infosur Hoy - Mexico home to record 1,400 drug-related deaths in April
13. ^ Daily Mail - Mexican drug lord who smuggled tons of cocaine into the US and dissolved enemies in vats of caustic soda gets 25 years in jail in plea bargain
14. ↑ El Mundo - El museo del narco mexicano