Ramón Arellano Félix, was born on August 31, 1964, in Sinaloa, Mexico. He was one of the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel.
He is the seventh of eleven children in the marriage union of Benjamin Arellano Sanchez and Alicia Felix Zazueta.
Those who met him remember him as someone who was tall, since he was 1 meter 82 centimeters tall and big, since he was close to 100 kilograms.
He had an unfriendly character, unlike his jovial and friendly brothers.
At the age of 19, he moved like several of his brothers to Guadalajara to continue his university studies as part of the routine of life of every child from an upper-middle class family.
He made the list of the ten most wanted people in the United States accused of conspiracy to traffic illegal substances, as well as the list of those sanctioned by the Treasury Department for using the American financial system to launder money from such criminal activities.
Sanctions include prohibiting companies with U.S. tax domicile from entering into contracts with those on the list and freezing both movable and immovable assets owned by them that are detected within their jurisdiction.
Ramón Arellano Félix Inside the Tijuana Cartel
He was the second in charge of the family business and was in charge of both the safety of the cartel members and of settling accounts with those who did not comply with the agreements or showed independence of judgment.
He was especially fierce with his victims and used to kill for fun any unsuspecting person who came across him in a temper tantrum during his nights out.
Ramón Arellano Félix vs El Chapo Guzmán
In an exchange of bullets with members of the Sinaloa Cartel, he escaped unharmed from an attack on a Puerto Vallarta nightclub where he was on vacation with a group of collaborators.
A group of armed people entered showing credentials as law enforcement officers, and in response they were shot by Ramón Arellano Félix’s security guards, and then the shooting started.
The Tijuana cartel’s board of directors decided to retaliate and charged Ramón with locating the addresses and whereabouts of Joaquín Guzmán Loera’s relatives, in order to kidnap them and through brutal torture obtain information about other members of the Guzmán family.
While the Arellano Felix were performing in Guadalajara, Joaquin Guzman’s intelligence team captured Gilberto Higuera, one of Ramon’s trusted men, in Culiacan.
At the same time, Ramon had kidnapped several relatives of “El Chapo” so the hostage exchange began after the Director of Security of the Tijuana cartel threatened Guzman to start killing his relatives if he did not release Higuera.
The Mercenaries of Ramón Arellano Félix
The Arellano Felix were determined to end the life of Chapo Guzmán; for that task they selected, hired and trained a group of men who were given a salary of US$500 a week plus fees for additional work.
AK47 rifles, .38 pistols and subject to strict discipline including the use of uniform, permanent barracks, which were only interrupted with the permission of those in charge of the operations and the prohibition of drugs and alcohol.
One day Ramón receives the information that “El Chapo” was in Guadalajara and immediately proceeded to move there to execute the long studied plan.
The Mistake
After the shooting at the Guadalajara International Airport, the errand boys left the hated enemy for dead.
Moments later they learned that the illustrious son of Badiraguato was still alive and that they had murdered Juan Posadas Ocampo, Mexican Prelate of the Catholic Church.
They were barely recovering from the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena, which had unleashed the fury of the U.S. government and ended the days of the Guadalajara Cartel for the effective action of Operation Legend.
Like beasts that feel the danger they ordered the hitmen to flee to the United States, they looked for a couple of scapegoats willing to give themselves up to the authorities and declare having seen Chapo Guzmán at the airport.
Someone had to pay for the mistake they made. Shortly afterwards “El Chapo” was arrested in Guatemala, handed over to the Mexican authorities and put behind bars.
Ramón Arellano Linked to a Massacre
In 1997, Ramón Arellano Félix was linked by police in Ensenada, Baja California State, Mexico, to the murder of twelve people, all from the same family.
The unfortunate family is suspected of being part of a local drug distribution channel and owing a large amount of money to the Tijuana cartel.
¿How did Ramon Arellano Felix die?
His end began with the assignment received from his brothers to travel to Mazatlán, another Mexican Pacific city, to assassinate one of the members of the board of directors of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael Zambada García aka “el Mayo” with whom the boys from Tijuana had problems.
After being stopped for a traffic violation, he discharged his weapon, causing injuries to a law enforcement officer named Antonio Arias, who immediately responded by shooting him in the head without knowing that he was a criminal requested by the U.S. and Mexican justice, who was responsible for the death of hundreds of people.
This is how Ramón Arellano Félix died, on February 10, 2002.
Other versions say that it was all a trap by the Mayo Zambada, who along with his men intercepted him on the road, forced him out of the car and shot him several times.
Ramón Arellano Félix and the Television
In the Netflix series “El Chapo”, he appears under the name of Ramón Avendaño and is played by the actor Rolf Petersen.
In the Netflix series “Narcos Mexico” he is portrayed by the actor Manuel Masalva