Mexican law enforcement agents have captured Eduardo Arellano Felix, a suspected leader of the brutal, Baja California-based drug cartel responsible for smuggling large amounts of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine to the United States.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had offered $5 million for information leading to his capture. Arellano has been indicted in U.S. federal court in San Diego. Mexican officials said Sunday that Arellano was arrested at a Tijuana residence Saturday night, along with his daughter. The daughter's name was not available. They have been taken to Mexico City, as is the case with most high-profile arrests in drug cases. The DEA also confirmed Arellano's detention. It is the latest in a series of arrests in recent years that has weakened the organization. As the cartel has lost its grip on the lucrative drug-smuggling routes into the United States, a deadly battle for control of the Tijuana region has ensued. Eduardo Arellano's arrest follows that of his three brothers, Benjamin, Francisco Rafael and Francisco Javier, and the death of a fourth, Ramon, who was killed in a 2002 shootout with Mexican police in the state of Sinaloa.
Eduardo Arellano, nicknamed El Doctor, has been described as a reclusive former medical student in charge of overseeing the group's finances. With the removal of his brothers, he played an increasingly important role. A nephew, Fernando Sanchez Arellano, has been said to be in charge of the group's day-to-day operations. But Sanchez has been challenged by a former crew leader, Eduardo Garcia Simental, known as El Teo, and their battle has claimed the lives of close to 150 people in Tijuana in the past month.
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