The victory of "El Chapo" over the Arellano Felix Brothers

But the assassination didn't happen and Ramon returned to Tijuana with clean hands. " I was ready to kill him, but Kiki Fernandez, an associate of the Tijuana Cartel at this time, was paranoid and physically delayed me", he explained to his brothers. Benjamin was furious.

"And why didn't you kill Kiki"?, asked Benjamin.

"Don't worry, I will kill Guzman in Guadalajara", justified Ramon.

In June of 1992, Benjamin and Ismael Higuera Guerrero were ready to travel to Mexico City. The Arellanos had suffered a painful bout of seizures of cocaine and marijuana in the United States. They saw their town turn into a hostile place, a place that started to treat them as strangers, the owners of the border.

Benjamin travelled to the Mexican Capital with the intention of speaking for the second time with Guzman and Zambada and again bury the hatchet. However before they left for the meeting, Ramon learned that Guzman was plotting the killing of Benjamin and Ismael Higuera Guerrero during the transfer. They cancelled the trip.

The Arellanos confronted Zambada and others who knew of the attack beforehand, including another important trafficker named Rafael Aguilar Guajardo, ex commander of Federal Security and co-founder of the Juarez Cartel.

Zambada and Aguilar Guajardo denied knowing of or being implicated in the plot. After this incident, the leaders of the Arellano Felix Organization maintained cordial relations with Zambada and Aguilar Guajardo, however they perceived them as enemies.

A little after this, the organisations were at war. The alliance of the AFO with Manuel Aguirre Galindo and Jesus Labra Aviles was strengthened.

In the same year, in August of 1992, Ramon and a Sicario travelled to Guadalajara to seek a second opportunity to execute Guzman. Ramon felt secure after having received the precise location of Guzman in Guadalajara, the Capital of Jalisco

"I don't want the situation to make things worse" said Benjamin, visibly worried.

"If other important traffickers who are giving us problems will see Guzman dead and will no longer attack us", said Ramon, according to the reconstruction made by Everado.

Ramon and a contingent of Sicario's left in the private aircraft of Benjamin. The day before departure of Ramon, his brothers Benjamin and Eduardo and other bosses of Tijuana were holed up at a ranch called "Las Bardas" awaiting news of the attack. Two or three hours later, Ramon called his brothers by telephone, " we intended to shoot and kill him, but he escaped".


In the Autumn of 1992, Fulvio Jimenez Turegano commanded the Federal Police in Tijuana. The Arellanos knew for sure that this man Jimenez, a descendant of the Policeman Arturo "El Negro" Durazo, working in concert with Guzman Loera. The pressure didn't decrease and the confiscations didn't stop.

The Arellanos thought to stop and take a breath, and decided to give a holiday to all of the heads of the Tijuana Cartel in Puerta Vallarta.

The narco traffickers opted to pause and hope that the frontier plazas would cool down. Benjamin, Ramon and Javier Arellano Felix, Ismael and Gilberto Higuera Guerrero, Efrain Perez, David Barron Corona "El Popeye", chief bodyguard and shot caller from the Logan Heights Gang, and others prepared to leave the city and take a long vacation in Puerto Vallarta.



Until then all was calm until November 1992. But already now nothing was calm, the Sicarios of "El Chapo" and his friend Hector "El Guero" Palma ambushed Ramon and Francisco Javier in the disco Christine of Vallarta.

The version from the Tijuana Cartel was that a group of people entered the disco, they went to the bathroom and shouted "Police". In the place were Ramon, Javier and Ismael and Gilberto Higuera. One of the accomplices of the Capos repeated the same message, " Police", they killed him immediately.

This was the start of a firefight where no less than a dozen guys broke into the salon and opened fire. Barron returned the fire. He killed one of the attackers and took his AK47 assault rifle. Later he helped the Capos escape the place by climbing up through a skylight in the roof, where he and the Arellanos and accomplices managed to escape.

The vacations were cancelled and Eduardo Arellano Felix and Paez Martinez flew to Guadalajara where they met with Benjamin and others. They decided to counter attack immediately. Gilberto Higuera led a team of Sicarios to Culiacan to locate and attack members of the group of Guzman and Guero Palma.

A second decision was made that Ramon Arellano Felix and an individual nicknamed "La Rana" and called Humberto Banuelos Rodriguez, an ex commander of the Judicial Police of Sinaloa, to identify members of Guzmans family and their houses in the Guadalajara area.

La Rana

During the following weeks, La Rana located and kidnapped one of the brothers in law of Guzman. The day that Guzman's brother in law was kidnapped, Paez Martinez and David Barron Corona, accompanied Ramon to a place where the captive was being held. They tortured him until he gave up the names and locations of other family members of Guzman. Then after torturing him they killed him.

Meanwhile, Gilberto Higuera remained in Culiacan with his team of Sicarios while effecting the search for Guzman's relatives he was captured by Guzman's operatives. Immediately after Ramon received the information about the kidnapping, Ramon and Barron Corona went to one of the residences of the family of Guzman and the people in the house hostage.

Ramon Arellano spoke with "El Chapo", "I am going to kill your family unless you release Gilberto".

They each released their respective hostages, and concentrated their forces.

A little later the Arellanos returned to Tijuana, Benjamin Arellano called on the radio to Paez Martinez. "I want a meeting with Barron Corona", he ordered.

Paez Martinez found "El Popeye" and escorted him to the meeting with Benjamin. "Do you have friends available to provide bodyguards for me and my family?", inquired the narco trafficker.

 "I know various friends in the Logan Heights area of San Diego, but none of them know Tijuana very well", replied the assassin.

"That wont be a problem, I want to start out with around ten men",

Benjamin founded a body of full time assassins, it was an evolutionary leap in the history of Mexican criminal enterprises to recruit personnel to the organization for their singular ability to exercise violence. The narco ordered "El Popeye" to get safe houses, cars, weapons and whatever was need to organize the group. He filled Barron's hands with 200,000 dollars, and on top of the cash he put a radio.

"You are CH", Benjamin had given him a radio call sign. CH was an abbreviation of Charles, which the narco trafficker liked to call Barron, as in Charles Bronson, or more precisely, the characters that Charles Bronson played in films.

Charles or "El Popeye" immediately started to recruit gang members from Logan Heights to be bodyguards and members of the team of Sicarios. He bought three spacious homes to use as safe houses, called "Offices", in Tijuana.

The Office with the call sign "73" had the primary responsibility for the security of Ramon Arellano, other concentrated on vigilance for Benjamin Arellano Felix, and another given the call sign "L-H", maybe a reference to Logan Heights there, concentrated as a general execution and reinforcement team.



These were some of the gang members recruited: Alberto Bayardo Robles, El Gori, Alfredo Araujo also nicknamed Popeye, Adelaido Pena Huerta, Lalo, Marcos Quinones, El Pato, Enrique Vascones, El Puma, El Tarzan, El Jimmy, Night Owl, El Gizmo, El Gordo, Cougar, Spanky and El Paisa all originated from Logan Heights gangs like Posole or Del Sol. Three were promoted to the Mexican Mafia the most dangerous prison gang in the United States.

At the end of 1992 and the start of 1993, the Arellano Felix team of Sicarios concentrated on training in the hope of an opportunity to kill Guzman Loera.

The weekly wage of every hitman was 500 dollars extra for participating in special mission, that is to say, work consisting of assaults, kidnapping and assassinations. The formal training consisted of the handling and use of assault rifles in particular AK47's, .38 super pistols the standard sidearm at that time of Mexican Police, and sub machine guns like the UZI 9mm.

What was the process of recruitment for the Sicario team of the Arellano Felix Organization? How were they chosen, these men whose primary ambition was to see the death of Guzman Loera?

Night Owl was a member of the Posole gang, the same gang that "El Bat" was a member of. Between 1978 and 1981, Night Owl was sentenced seven times on different minor charges. In 1987 he was in San Quentin where he met Albert Esqueda "El Bat".

Albert Esqueda "El Bat".

At the start of the 1990's, the American Authorities already knew exactly the modus operandi of "Night Owl", he was processed for possession of methamphetamines and explosives. His status in prison was sufficient that he could extend a certain influence in the leadership of the Mexican Mafia.

Between April 1992 and the 1st of March of 1993, the gang banger was in a cell with another inmate named Jose Ayala and know as Bugsy, in his time a close friend of David Barron Corona, "El Popeye", and Charles to the Arellano Felix Organization. The friendship between Night Owl and Bugsy lasted until the moment the latter was the first to enroll in David Barron crew, his invite coming by mail.

In March of 1993, Night Owl finished his sentence in State Prison. Outside the prison, a woman was waiting for him, the sister of David Barron Corona and took him to a house referred to as "the office" in the Logan Heights area of San Diego. Here he met Barron Corona and the other members of the gang: Zig Zag, Tarzan, Puma, Roach, Big Smokey, Little Smokey, and Happy... all assassins under the command of the capos of Tijuana, and where almost immediately, Night Owl was taken.

He took delivery of his weapon, which would be with him now constantly. Barron Corona instructed two of the oldest team members to teach Night Owl how to use them, strip, clean and reassemble, until the weapon became second nature to him.

"Periodically the members that were Sicarios and I received formal fire arms training. The training consisted of practice shots and time. After carrying out the simulations, Barron Corona and our instructor of fire arms, a half oriental man, gave us an evaluation and critique in respect of how we performed", explained Night Owl.

After the .38 revolver and the AK47 Assault Rifle, the recruit received an official uniform of the Police: A black jacket with the letters PJF ( Federal Judicial Police) imprinted on the back and trousers of the same material. Also there was a jacket of the PGR. The gangs utilized the uniforms when carrying out security activities for the Arellano Felix, or other occasions when they were functioning as Sicarios.

Also he was taught the basic rules of the assassins group: no consuming alcohol or drugs, a leave restriction unless they had specific permission to do so, and if they did to be uniformed and ready at any time to carry out a mission.

El Popeye commanded a group of gang members with the hierarchical structure of clica membership, with a refined sense of loyalty that the military has, such as the uniform, the permanent availability and the living shoulder to shoulder.

Night Owl (Jose Felix Pardo) was expelled temporarily for consuming drugs. He returned to San Diego, and almost at the same time returned to prison, where he met up with his old friend Bugsy, who had integrated once more into one of the other Sicario squadrons in Tijuana. He also met with another old acquaintance "El Bat".

In February of 2001, Night Owl was detained for the third occasion for breaking his terms of parole.
Maybe due to weariness of the gradual wear of the Tijuana Cartel, he sought out Federal Officials in California and told them of his desire to cooperate in the investigation of his former bosses.

He gave chapter and verse about the process of recruitment of the Sicario Teams of the Arellano Felix Organization.

He also gave up information about "El Bat", Jose Albert Esqueda, a man that sought to convince the Sureno gangs in the United States, associated under the Government of the Mexican Mafia or EME, to assassinate Guzman Loera.

The spy

The attack in the Christine disco started alarm bells ringing. One afternoon, at the end of December 1992 or the start of January 1993, Ismael Higuera Guerrero informed Ramon Arellano Felix of the existence of a spy of Guzman Loera.

He said the name Juvenal Gomez Buenrostro, a marijuana drug dealer for the cartel but of little importance in the grand scheme of things. But in this context, the Tijuana Cartel understood how a subject could represent the disappearance of entire organization.

"Him and his parents also, are informants for the Government of the United States, Ismael Higuera provoked the paranoia of Ramon, Juvenal Gomez lived in San Diego, but he had a gymnasium here in Tijuana".

The Arellanos preferred to assassinate people in the United States, they resolved the execution of Juevenal Gomez in California, without any further formality that the previous conversation.

A few days after, Ramon and Benjamin Arellano Felix interchanged information about Juevenal Gomez with other members of their staff also under suspicion of collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

In these days, Ramon rented a house in Del Mar, California. This was where Everado Paez stayed, the Lieutenant of the Cartel. Ramon also seemed specially interested with the location and execution of Gomez.

The topic became a priority and Popeye was urged to carry out the murder. He chose two of his Sicarios: Alfredo Araujo and Night Owl, who would use .38 pistols, common in Tijuana and AK47's. Martinez joined in the hunt for Gomez, who ended up murdering a Sicario integrated into the second team formed by Popeye.

"I shot him in a cell phone business, in Chula Vista. There I left the car, and dumped the murder weapon", assured the killer identified as Adelaido Pena, Lalo, who got a bag containing 50,000 dollars.

During the second week of May of 1993, Ramon Arellano got intel that his enemy was in Guadalajara. He informed his brothers, Benjamin, Eduardo and Javier, and all coordinated the attack.

The following day, Ramon and a group of Sicarios left Tijuana for Guadalajara to locate and kill Guzman Loera. Six or Seven days later, on the 23rd of May of 1993, La Rana informed that his people participated in a shoot out at the airport of the Jalisco capital city. The killers thought they had killed Guzman, but in reality they had shot and killed a Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo.

Once they arrived back in Tijuana from Guadalajara, the Sicarios that participated in the attack received orders to flee to the United States. The war had been bad business for everyone. The death of a head of the Church in an ambush was too much. Also it had been eight years since the death of DEA Agent Kiki Camarena, somebody had to pay.

Before his Capos, Barron apologized for the failure to assassinate El Chapo Guzman.

"Don't worry, responded Benjamin. Now its necessary to confront the situation of what is best to do. I am trying to take care of the problem. I have to submit to two men in the PGR, to alleviate the pressure on us. They are going to testify that El Chapo was the target of the hit. The will go to prison for one or two years, and I will give to each 300,000 dollars to each of their families.

"I will hand pick the two that are offered up", said "El Popeye"

Between nine and ten o'clock, Barron told Benjamin that the scapegoat killers were ready: Puma and Spooky. Jesus Labra would make the delivery to a commander on their payroll.

A few days later, the narco traffickers were in the news related to the assassination of the Cardinal, and they heard the Federal Judicial Police had achieved the apprehension of the two participants in the shooting that confirmed the Cartel war.

El Chapo was at the centre of the scene. A short time later he was detained and even though Los Arellanos were not, at least not immediately, Guzman Loera strengthened his hand from the prison in which he was incarcerated.

He maintained the support of his cousins, the Beltran Leyva who he would later betray, and El Mayo Zambada, who years ago conspired to kill him.

At the time, the Arellanos were fighting on another front against Amado Carrillo Fuentes, El Senor de los Cielos. The documents detail for example, the killing of a woman called Maria Olivas in Imperial Beach, California, for the simple fact that she was considered an acquaintance of the Juarez Capo.

Little by little, the business capacity of the Arellanos was reduced and some of the spaces were filled by his assassins, now chosen as cargo escorts.

1996, El Popeye was not just a simple hitman. He moved shipments of cocaine from Ensenada, Baja California to San Diego, California, that he personally escorted to New York.

At this time the cocaine that he imported to the United States was in shipments of 50 kilos, and he sent shipments to New York of 100 to 200 kilos.

Since then, well actually from before, the Arellano Felix Organization were charging piso for shipments of drugs owned by other cartels from Colombia or Mexico to move through Tijuana and Mexicali.

In the present, the participation of the formerly powerful Tijuana Cartel is reduced to this piso per load, with increasingly less market presence of their own merchandise. In the glory years, their own employees could conduct business of shipping up to two tons of marijuana.

El Popeye died on the 27th of November of 1997. He was hit by bullet fragments that went through a van of the weekly newspaper ZETA of Tijuana, struck in the eye he died instantly, slumped over his shotgun, the Barrio Logan assassin died while trying to assassinate Jesus Blancornelas, for publishing the relationship between the Cartel War and killing of the Cardinal.

His death reconfigured the body of killers of the Cartel. Jose Alberto Marquez, El Bat, who preferred the knife to the gun, was under the immediate command of Rivera Martinez.

The present

A 2013 map of the criminal influence of the Cartels by the Government of the United States, it shows the rise of empires: the advancement of the Zetas until they controlled the largest number of States, and inside the Sinaloa Cartel who maintain their hegemony of the drugs business.

It observes the expansion in the occidente centro of the Los Caballeros Templarios of Michoacán, and the emergence of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

Also the point of contraction of the Gulf Cartel, as the map not only has the foundation and the zenith of the empire, but also its decline and ruin: colored just on the cities that gave their name to the hegemonic Cartels of Juarez and Tijuana.

 There was a time, not that long ago, because the empires of the Cartels are perishable products of short expiration, in that the Arellano Felix could assassinate the narco that would become the most powerful in the world, Joaquin Guzman Loera, who for those in Tijuana had a boiling hatred.

All of the brothers that constructed the Tijuana Cartel are either in prison or dead, also many of the Sicarios, including Jose Albert Esqueda the man who once had engraved into one of his knives, "when you see me smile, prepare to die well".

The investigation against "El Bat", was under the charge of Denaire L Rigney, Special Agent of the FBI, with experience since 1974 and employed against the Arellano Felix Organization since 1995 together with a team made up of members of the Immigration Service, the DEA  and the Internal Revenue Service.

On the 24th of November 2003, he was found at his home in Tijuana, where he had been packaging marijuana. They discovered dozens of firearms, pistols and rifles. But what most caught the attention of the Police was the large collection of knives and razors.

One of the blades had inscribed into it, as a representation of the Bat, "when you see me smile, prepare for good death".

The Government of the United States solicited the Mexican Government for his provisional detention, with international extradition of one Jose Alberto Marquez Esqueda. The Bat was extradited, as almost everything is that Washington asks of Mexico.

The Bat will spend the rest of his life in prison, where the Mexican Mafia control a good part of drug trafficking in the United States.

Things in life, things in death: the EME, the true nation of the smiling knifeman who is now one of the principal distributors of El Chapo Guzman.

Original article in Spanish at Sinembargo