The Benjamines of the Cartel Arellano Felix

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Zetatijuana article

Subject Matter: Los Benjamines, Los Pilotos
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

The Criminal Investigation Agency of the PGR is investigating Los Benjamines, one of which is 26 years old, one of 19 years and one of indeterminate age, sons of the oldest and youngest of the Arellano Felix brothers. Among them, the Federal Investigators seek to identify "El Piloto", who has been designated as the actual head of a cell of the Cartel Arellano Felix that operates transiting drugs through Baja California. This month this cell has been linked also to kidnapping and extortion, the CAF have returned to kidnapping and "cobro de piso".

Reporter: Zeta Investigations
It is said that there are three new Arellanos visible. With the detention of Fernando Sanchez Arellano in 2014, the criminal dynasty of the cartel had been cut, until now.


Investigators of the PGR have shared information, including with United States authorities, about the identification of three sons of the Arellano Felix brothers, who are being investigated for their participation in the cartel.

According to the names proportioned by the Mexican investigators, they are Fabian Arellano Corona, Benjamin Francisco Serrano and Javier Benjamin Briseno Arellano. According to Federal information, they are the sons of Bejamin Arellano Felix and Francisco Arellano Felix, both currently detained, the first in 2002 and the second in 2006, both imprisoned in the United States.

In coordination with officials of the American Union, the Federal investigators have arrived at the determination that the sons of the Arellano Felix, were born in that nation and maintain residence there in a legal manner.

Currently there are no existing arrest warrants for the descendants, they and their families, mothers, uncles and brothers, appear in criminal organigrams of the group for bi-national coordination of the army, the navy, the pgr and the Federal police, as well as the DEA among others.

Unlike that which happened to the family of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera, and exhibited by the government of the United States, with children apprehended in Mexico or on or over the border, the Arellano Felix clan have remained in the shadows, until the report surfaced a few months ago and was shared by the Mexican and United States agencies.

In Baja California, State investigators had located Fabian and thought his nickname was "El Piloto", but now they are investigating the three mentioned family members to determine the level of participation for each of them, and the hierarchy in the families criminal organization, because "El Piloto", as they have assumed for the last few years, is named as the moral and financial leader of the Cartel Arellano Felix.

Mafia cell leaders, it was reported unofficially to the coordination group through infiltrators; they held a meeting at the end of January of 2018 and agreed to "de-heat the plaza", which meant no more damage to people outside of the drug trade. But they did not comply.

Despite the absence of official complaints, inside the security council they recognize a rebound in the "extortion and kidnapping" in Tijuana. The deprivation of liberty and the "cobro de piso" committed against merchants was the easy way that some CAF cells used between 2006 - 2010 to capitalize or recapitalize, when their finances were affected by internal conflicts, homicides, detentions and seizures. Recent information still under investigation indicates that they have returned to these practises.

One of the local investigators referred to Zeta: " It seems that they found the list of objectives of "El Teo" - Eduardo Garcia Simental, detained in January of 2010, or the list of the CAF, and they are exploiting it, with lists of those kidnapped, or those who had agreed to pay for protection, receiving calls.

"In some cases they are kidnapping former Laundrette owners, people who previously operated with the CAF, but right now they are with their established businesses", said another researcher, "the issue is that the victims are not reporting the crimes, and are paying immediately, and indeed they said they know of cases where owners of small businesses have paid up to 1.5 million pesos to be released from being kidnapped.

Another detailed that returns Tijuana to its former terror days, is the presence of a group of men dressed in dress pants and shirts with the logos of the Attorney Generals Office of the States (PGJE). They arrive aboard a white Dodge Ram truck with flashing lights, they enter premises, and rob, extort and kill.

The most recent case was that of Gerardo Gutierrez Pereida, an employee of the municipality of Tijuana, kidnapped on the night of March 3rd at his home in Las Playas delegation. Witnesses said that ministerial agents took him away under arrest, and he went quietly, family members were told to go for him at La Zona Rio.

However his dismembered body was found hours later, on the morning of the 4th of March in the Sanchez Taboada delegation, the body was narco manta with the following written on it. " This will happen to all the ministerial fucking ball of rats".

Inside the coordination group they raised an alert to the evident return of the organized crime cells to kidnapping, because of the crime committed against a merchant, a member of a family that owns a chain of restaurants - greengrocers, who was kidnapped on January the 23rd and rescued on the 28th.

While he was with the kidnappers, the criminals let him speak with the boss of the cell by phone, who identified himself as "El Padrino", the first inquiries reveal that this subject is part of the CAF, and that his alias known so far had be "El Kado".

According to an organization chart held by the coordination group, there are two men with that nickname, and both identify with the same name, but they have different ages. Hector Manuel Gil Garcia, the older of the two is identified as a relative of the brothers Garcia Simental - and identified as CAF in 2006 -2010, loyal to the cartel and serving Luis Escudero, Isaac Ripa and Roberto Parnas whose name first came to light in 2008. In 2008 Gil Garcia was between 18 and 20 years old, and he became a direct operator for Fernando Sanchez Arellano " El Ingeniero", detained in June of 2014.

Eight years after, on the 10th of August 2016, the State Preventative Police announced the capture of a member of the CAF: Hector Manuel Gil Garcia, 19 years old and presented him as "El Kadito", arrested carrying a 9mm pistol and four thousand dollars.

Junior Arellanos

"El Piloto", as an alias was known to be a leader of the CAF since 2014, months after the capture of the nephew of the Arellanos, Fernando Sanchez Arellano "El Ingeniero". Almost four years later, authorities have still not been able to put a name or face to the alias.

Since the start they have thought that El Piloto is one of the other nephews, and have previously applied the same nickname to various Lieutenants of the CAF, as was the case with Jose Luis Esucdero Escandon.

To follow up on this lack of knowledge, in its recent crime work in Baja California, the Criminal Investigation Agency of the PGR established an organization chart of the Arellano family heirs, locating in detail all the children, men and women, but only of Ramon, Benjamin and Francisco Javier Arellano Felix.

Of Ramon, Paulina 29 years old, of Benjamin, Benjamin Francisco, Fabian, Alicia and Ruth, 28 and 31 years old; Francisco Javier, Javier Benjamin, Cinthia and Lizbeth, 24 and 23 years old.

In some cases, the sons of the Arellano Feliz brothers have managed to change their surnames, particularly the Arellanos, staying with either the mothers surname or a different name altogether.

In the case of the girls, the authorities of the United States and Mexico consider them outside the clans criminal activities. Virtually all Arellano descendants identified by the bi-national criminal investigation group were born in the United States, and therefore, legal residents of that country.

According to the organization chart of the AIC, the identity of "El Piloto" is one of three possibilities:

* Benjamin Francisco, the 26 year old son of Benjamin Arellano.
*Javier Benjamin, the offspring of "Tigrillo", barely 19 years old.
*Fabian Arellano Corona, son of Benjamin Arellano.

Los Pilotos

Below the family, Federal investigators are looking at a series of characters that are being investigated to analyze the possibility of establishing solid case files to charge them, because as was claimed to the former Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, none have arrest warrants against them.

These are the lead characters:

JOSÉ MESIEN. They place him as operator and brother-in-law of "El Ingeniero".

CRESCENCIO MURILLO BELTRÁN. "El Chencho" is one of the "elders" who made rounds with the Arellano brothers, cousin of Manuel Arturo Villarreal Heredia "El Nalgón" (arrested in 2006, prisoner in the United States) and Armando Villarreal Heredia (arrested in 2011, prisoner in the United States), a member of the Sinaloa Cartel in the wing of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in the 1980s, who he betrayed and joined the CAF in the 90s, where he has maintained great profits with the transfer of drugs to the United States ; one of the main promoters of the CAF alliance with Rubén Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho" and his Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).

As operator of "El Chencho", the authorities look to Cristian Alejandro Villegas "El Quesero".

JOSÉ LUIS ESCUDERO ESCANDÓN. "El Quieto" and / or, "El Pelus", has a property of 300 square meters that cost 3.8 million pesos in Lomas de Agua Caliente in Tijuana. He started as a criminal employee of Jorge Alberto Briseño López "El Cholo", brother-in-law of "Tigrillo", who was married to his sister Cinthya. In times of the "El Ingeniero" he was at the head of a group of young people also identified by the authorities as part of Los Pilotos. These are:

Isaac Ripa Bárcenas. "Parri" and / or "Luis", with a property of 200 square meters in the Chapultepec subdivision, valued at 2.7 million pesos; with the rest of his family they sold several lands in Hacienda Vista del Mar to a real estate company.

Roberto Parnás. In turn, they initiated criminal operations with Carlos Garmiño González "El Karateca", identified lieutenant of the CAF captured and released in 2016, and with ...

Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuño. Eduardo López Navarro "El Flaco". In 2016, Héctor Manuel Gil García "El Kadito" informed the authorities that Huerta was the brother-in-law of Escudero Escandón and in charge of handling the money from the sale of drugs for "El Karateca".

Óscar Adán Rodríguez Guevara. "El Güero Chihuahua", owner of several established service businesses, identifies with  another CAF member of the old guard, José Manuel Núñez López "Don Balas" (arrested in 2008 and released in 2011), who does not appear in the new list of the PGR. Rodríguez has been apprehended and released on multiple occasions, most recently in August of 2017, previously in 2004 and in 2008 with Núñez. They say they head a group of assassins named Los Omega.

Mario Rodríguez "The Compa". According to a report presented by the PGR in 2008, this man was already part of the CAF as part of the criminal operations, he was on a list containing another 194 names and 107 aliases of people denounced as part of the aforementioned cartel.

Jesus Edgar Ruiz Domínguez. Known as "El Chore", without much information.

Pedro Quintero Velázquez. "El Jaguar", a Mexican American who uses San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, as a security zone, owner of several buildings in Rosarito, arrested and released in September 2012 and August 2013. Criminally employs Los Sureños y Paisas and recruits deportees . He fought two attempted murder charges.

Luis Medina García . Both his name and his nickname, "Focu", appear separately in an operation carried out in April 2012, when municipal police rescued a kidnappee and secured 5 thousand doses of crystal at an address of the Mariano Matamoros subdivision; the officers reported that they detained several men, including Luis Enrique García Medina, 44, and Juan José Castillo Guzmán "El Focu." Local authorities identify this character as Luis Fernando Meza García and define the delegation of Playas as their area of ​​influence.

Filiberto Parra Ramos "La Perra". Sicario who split off from the CAF and was part of the cell of "Teo" García Simental, he was arrested in June 2009, accused of homicide and organized crime; he was released in 2017 and is currently located by the authorities in the San Antonio de los Buenos delegation in Tijuana.

ALSO THE EX POLICÍAS ...

Fausto Estrada Nides  Former ministerial appointed by the Coordination Group as part of the structure of the CAF and the black command that served it; nicknamed "El Karateca", in December 2015 he was the victim of a murderous attack perpetrated by Daniel Montes, who also claimed to belong to the CAF and received $ 1,600 for the work.

Enrique Jorquera Guerrero. "Jorquera", former ministerial liaison of the mafia with corrupt elements of the prosecution.

Prospero Medina Avilés. Also former ministerial, old guard with a history of abuse of authority, arrested and released in 2006, after an armed attack against municipal police. They nickname him "El Pablito".

Juan Lorenzo Vargas. "El Chan", former ministerial since 2006, linked to José Manuel Núñez López "Don Balas"; "El Teo" ordered him killed in December 2009 and in the events executed two nephews of Vargas. He was arrested in October 2013 for possession of weapons and was released in August 2014.

Arturo Cosme Espinoza. Arrested, accused, prosecuted and released for organized crime. The yonke where Nides was shot in December 2015, is his property, while former ministerial police Gilberto Méndez Moncada, his employee, was murdered the same month. The version was that "The Cosmas were raising drug traffickers from the Arellano and Sinaloa cartels to collect ransoms"

Mario Alberto Herrera Sánchez "Los Herrera", former municipal police of Rosarito, indicated to participate in the failed attempt of homicide of the then police director of that municipality, Jorge Eduardo Montero Álvarez (December 2007). He was not arrested for that crime, but he was captured in the company of other men in April 2010, for possession of weapons and drugs.

 A THIRD LEVEL

Finally, in his report the PGR researchers contemplate the descendants of Luis Roberto Toscano "El Mono", in charge of controlling the Northern Zone for "El Ingeniero" until April 2015, when he was killed; at the head, a young man they identify as his son, named Luis Roberto Toscano Torres "El Monito".

Below him, his uncles and some third-level relatives: Roberto Carlos Toscano Rodríguez, Ladislao Antonio Toscano Rodríguez, Marcos Rafael Toscano Rodríguez, Eduardo Alfonso Bastidas Velázquez, Miguel Alberto Duarte Martínez and Manuel Alberto Vázquez Uzeta.