MEXICO CITY
Mexican army says it captured Fernando Sanchez Arellano, leader of the once-formidable Cartel of Tijuana, on Monday afternoon in the city of Tijuana.
The gangster was arrested in the Cesea neighborhood of Tijuana while he was watching Mexico's World Cup game against Croatia at 16:00 CDT.
Arellano, known as “The Engineer,” is a nephew of the Arellano Felix brothers -- Benjamin, Ramon, Javier and Rafael, -- founders of the Cartel of Tijuana. All of them have been captured or killed in different circumstances.
“Personnel of the Secretary of National Defense, in coordination with National General Attorney Office, arrested yesterday Fernando Sanchez Arellano without a shot,” said Monte Alejandro Rubido, national commissioner of security.
“Available information points to 2008, when Sanchez Arellano and Eduardo Garcia Simental sustained a war to control the organization; in January 2012, Sanchez reassumed the head of the gang,” he said.
In January 2011, the National General Attorney's office offered $2.3 million for those who would give any information leading to the capture of Sanchez Arellano.
According to the commissioner, Sanchez Arellano was moved from Tijuana to Mexico City, where he will be judged by the National General Attorney Office.
However, the commissioner announced the criminal group was still operating in the cities of Tijuana, Rosarito, Tecate and Ensenada. The Cartel of Tijuana is hunted for kidnapping, drug traffic, extortion and homicides.
For his part, Tomas Ceron, head of the Criminal Research Agency at the National General Attorney Office, said they were making tests to confirm the identity of the criminal.
“We’re comparing fingerprints of Sanchez Arellano with the database of the National Security System, as well as his physical characteristics with the available evidence.”
The researcher said the results would be published through the Twitter account of the office he leads.
Since Tuesday morning, various Mexican media published rumors about the capture of Sanchez Arellano, and at 14:40 CDT, the Mexican government confirmed the arrest.
