Mexico's Defense Department said Eduardo Arellano-Felix, one of the members of the infamous drug cartel and a fugitive on the DEA's Most Wanted List, was captured Saturday around 5:30 p.m after a shootout in the middle-class Tijuana neighborhood.
According to the Diariosandiego, the captured man identified himself as Samuel Bracamontes, an alleged capo in the organization. DiarioSandiego cites one source that Mexican authorities soon realized the man was “El Doctor”, wanted for federal drug violations in the United States.
The newspaper reports Arellano-Felix was captured at the home of Fernando Sanchez Arellano, his nephew and the man who is now considered the leader of the criminal organization.
The Tijuana newspaper, Frontera, is reporting that Arellano-Felix, his daughter and four others were detained. Mexican authorities say Arellano-Felix and his sister Enedina Arellano-Felix took over the drug clan's leadership after several of their brothers were arrested or killed.
As of 11:00 a.m. PT Sunday, the DEA’s Most Wanted List has not been updated online with any news of the capture. The agency was offering a reward of $5 million for Arellano-Felix’s capture.
The Arellano-Felix cartel is considered the most violent drug trafficking cartel in North America. A recent rash of violence in Tijuana has some experts speculating the cartel is slipping. John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor in San Diego who co-wrote the indictments against several members of the organization is quoted in a recent LA Times article "We are now seeing the tail end" of the Arellano-Felix organization.
In October 2007, Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix , 57, was sentenced to six years in U.S. federal prison for charges of distributing and possessing cocaine 27 years ago. He and his six brothers are allegedly behind the Tijuana-based gang.
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Francisco Javier Arellano-Felix, the cartel's kingpin, pleaded guilty in September 2007 to running a criminal enterprise and conspiracy to launder money. He was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to forfeit $50 million and the yacht he was captured on, the Dock Holiday.
