Tijuana Cartel (Arellano Félix) Map & Profile 2026: Leaders, Territory and U.S. Charges

What official records and reporting say about the Tijuana Cartel (Arellano Félix): who leads it, where it is reported to operate, and how the U.S. has targeted it. Territory and leadership change fast, so each item links to its source and shows dates as reported. Allegations are as stated by the source; people who are charged are presumed innocent until convicted.

All cartel profiles

Names and aliases

• The Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano Félix Organization, is a shell of what it was in the 1990s and early 2000s, but it continues to export narcotics and may be expanding its presence internationally. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]

Origins

• The Tijuana Cartel traces its roots to Sinaloa, where its founding members worked with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, alias "El Padrino," who began moving marijuana and heroin into the United States in the 1960s. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• The Arellano Félix brothers — Benjamín, Ramón, Francisco Rafael, Francisco Javier, and Eduardo — formed the core of the future Tijuana Cartel, emerging from the late-1970s formation of the Guadalajara Cartel. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]

Leadership

• Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuño, alias "El Flaquito," an alleged leader of the Cártel Arellano Félix and alleged collaborator of the Cártel de Sinaloa, was arrested around 01:21 on June 17, 2025, in Tijuana by a coordinated federal operation. (as of 2025-06) [Frontera Informativa, 2025-06-18 · news/research]
• As of early 2025, Enedina Arellano Félix remains the leader of the Tijuana Cartel; media outlets nickname her "La Jefa" (the female boss), "La Madrina" (the godmother), and "Narco mami" (narco mommy). (as of 2025-02) [Marco Alcocer / Fernanda Quintanilla Domínguez, 2025-02-27 · news/research]
• From prison, Félix Gallardo divided his territories among traffickers, awarding Tijuana to the Arellano Félix brothers. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• Enedina Arellano Félix, alias "La Narcomami," heads the Tijuana Cartel; prior to leading the organization, she reportedly handled much of its financial operations and money laundering. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• Benjamín Arellano Félix led the AFO from approximately 1986 until his March 9, 2002 arrest by Mexican authorities; he arrived in the US on April 29, 2011, after a final 2007 extradition order, and pleaded guilty on January 4, 2012. (as of 2012-04) [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012-04-02 · official record]
• Eduardo Arellano Félix was the last of four brothers who controlled the Tijuana Cartel to be jailed or killed. (as of 2013-08) [InSight Crime, 2013-08 · news/research]

Factions and splits

• After Eduardo's 2008 arrest, the Tijuana Cartel split: Fernando Sánchez Arellano ("El Ingeniero") headed one faction, while Eduardo García Simental ("El Teo" or "Tres Letras") headed another. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• DEA agent William Sherman declared "The AFO is finished, others have moved in and are attempting to take their place" after Eduardo's sentencing — a claim the record contradicts, since the organization continued to exist. (as of 2013-08) [InSight Crime, 2013-08 · news/research]

Allies and rivals

• El Flaquito clashed with the Arzate García brothers ("La Rana" and "El Aquiles"), associates of La Mayiza; a violent episode known as the "Cachanillazo" on November 20, 2023, in Ensenada left at least ten people dead. (as of 2025-08) [Frontera Informativa, 2025-08-13 · news/research]
• At its height, the Tijuana Cartel made a pact with the Caro Quintero clan in Sonora and the Milenio Cartel in Michoacán, as well as alliances in Colima, Jalisco, and Oaxaca, allowing it to dominate the trade from north to south. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• El Teo sought an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel, while El Ingeniero reportedly allied himself with the Zetas, and a bloody feud ensued between the factions. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• After around 2010, Tijuana enjoyed a relative peace attributed to a truce between the Tijuana and Sinaloa Cartels, with Sinaloa retaining primary control of Tijuana and the surrounding area; an early-2015 report indicated the Tijuana Cartel might be attempting to retake territory. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• In 2016, following El Chapo's re-arrest, evidence emerged that remnants of the Tijuana Cartel had formed an alliance with the CJNG to challenge the Sinaloa Cartel's hegemony in Baja California. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• The Tijuana Cartel is suspected of forming a truce with its former rival, the Sinaloa Cartel, though new reports indicate the two cartels may again be competing. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]

What it does

• In Tijuana, fentanyl is primarily sold as white powder but has also been identified in colored powders, mixed with black tar heroin, or sold in counterfeit M30 pills. [InSight Crime, 2025 · news/research]
• The AFO controlled the flow of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs through the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali into the United States, with operations also extending into southern Mexico and Colombia. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012-04-02 · official record]
• For nearly two decades, the Tijuana Cartel controlled the passage of drugs on the Tijuana border and into California, collecting "piso" — a criminal tax — on illegal activities in the region from Tijuana to Mexicali. [InSight Crime, 2014-06 · news/research]
• The Tijuana Cartel is thought to be powerful enough to charge "piso," a criminal tax, for shipping drugs through the areas it controls. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]

U.S. designations, sanctions and charges

• On June 1, 2004, the US President named the Arellano Félix Organization as a drug kingpin under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act; OFAC identified five companies and six individuals acting as fronts for Manuel Aguirre Galindo, a key AFO leader, including five Tijuana real estate firms. [U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2008 · official record]

Key events

• Law enforcement authorities in Tijuana estimate that around 70% of killings in the city are related to the enforcement of rules governing the local drug market. [InSight Crime, 2025 · news/research]
• Huerta Nuño's arrest warrant, case file 06/2020, is for the kidnapping of the sister-in-law and accountant of Víctor Manuel Padilla Murillo ("El Chatarras"), committed in Ensenada on August 25, 2019. [Frontera Informativa, 2025-06-18 · news/research]
• On August 12, 2025, Mexico's Security Cabinet transferred 26 alleged "generators of violence," including Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuño ("El Flaquito"), to the United States. [Frontera Informativa, 2025-08-13 · news/research]
• On October 28, 2021, Mexico City police detained five men who, according to a ZETA investigation, had arrived in the capital with a mission to assassinate Ovidio Guzmán López — and identified El Flaquito as the leader behind the plot. [Frontera Informativa, 2025-08-13 · news/research]
• After the 2021 plot against Ovidio Guzmán was foiled, Los Chapitos put a price on the head of El Flaquito, the leader of the Cártel de los Arellano Félix. [Frontera Informativa, 2025-08-13 · news/research]
• In May 1993, the Arellano Félix brothers sent gunmen to intercept El Chapo at the Guadalajara airport, but they struck and killed a Mexican cardinal instead. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• In February 2002, Ramón Arellano Félix traveled to Mazatlán to oversee the assassination of El Mayo, but El Mayo's men killed Ramón instead; a month later Benjamín was arrested, leaving Eduardo and their sister Enedina to lead. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• Following the arrest of El Teo in January 2010, the organization appeared to consolidate again under El Ingeniero. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• In December 2012, the last of the arrested Arellano Félix brothers, Eduardo, was extradited to the United States and sentenced to 15 years in August 2013; the oldest brother, Francisco Rafael, was assassinated in October 2013. [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]
• On June 23, 2014, the Mexican military arrested Fernando Sánchez Arellano, alias "El Ingeniero," in the northern border city of Tijuana, according to Excélsior. [InSight Crime, 2014-06 · news/research]
• Benjamín Arellano Félix was sentenced in U.S. District Court in San Diego to 25 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $100 million, following convictions for racketeering and conspiring to launder monetary instruments. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012-04-02 · official record]
• Eduardo Arellano Félix, alias "El Doctor," pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of money laundering and forfeited $50 million in order to avoid a maximum 140-year sentence for racketeering and drug trafficking. [InSight Crime, 2013-08 · news/research]

Where it operates in Mexico

• The Tijuana Cartel primarily operates in its namesake city, a strategic location on the US-Mexico border for smuggling drugs into Southern California. (as of 2016) [InSight Crime, 2016 · news/research]

Reported U.S. footprint

• Control of Tijuana's local drug market is divided among factions linked to Los Chapitos and the Mayiza of the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG, and remnants of the Arellano Félix Cartel (CAF). (as of 2025) [InSight Crime, 2025 · news/research]
• According to DOJ information cited by Milenio, El Flaquito operated for about 15 years, smuggling thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into the United States, distributed in cities such as San Diego and Los Angeles. (as of 2025-08) [Frontera Informativa, 2025-08-13 · news/research]
• During Operation Águila Alta, run between Tijuana and San Diego from August 31 to September 21, the Mexican Army disabled five drones used for drug and human trafficking. (as of 2026-09) [Lado.mx, 2026-09-24 · news/research]
• On June 18, 2025, the Border Patrol's San Diego Sector uncovered an uncompleted 2,918-foot narcotics smuggling tunnel from a Tijuana residence to a commercial warehouse in Otay Mesa; CBP did not publicly attribute the tunnel to any group, and since 1993 more than 95 tunnels have been found in the San Diego area. (as of 2025-06) [U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2025-06-18 · official record]
• Arellano Félix and other AFO members conspired to import and distribute hundreds of tons of cocaine and marijuana within the United States, for which the AFO obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. (as of 2012-04) [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2012-04-02 · official record]

Reported presence by Mexican state

Tijuana Cartel (Arellano Félix) in the United States

States with specific evidence: California.

Cartels in the U.S.: map and state-by-state evidence →

Last reviewed: September 30, 2026. Territory, leadership and advisories change; tell us about errors via our corrections page.