Enedina Arellano Félix

Enedina Arellano Félix de Toledo (born April 12, 1961)[1] is a Mexican drug lord who, alongside her brothers, founded the Tijuana Cartel and played a role as a logistical accountant for the criminal organization.

Enedina Arellano Félix
Enedina Arellano Félix (bottom right) and her family
Born (1961-04-12) April 12, 1961
Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Other namesLa Jefa
La Madrina
La Narcomami
OccupationTijuana Cartel drug lord
PredecessorEduardo Arellano Félix
Criminal charge(s)Drug trafficking,
money laundering
Criminal statusFugitive
SpouseLuis Raúl Toledo Carrejo
Relatives
List

Throughout most of the 1990s, the Tijuana Cartel was headed by her six brothers, while Enedina advised and helped them in money laundering and financial administration. But after the fall of a financial mastermind in the cartel in the year 2000, Enedina took up the position.[2] She first started working behind the scenes as a money launderer for the Tijuana Cartel but then ended up leading the cartel after the arrest of her brother Eduardo Arellano Félix in 2008.[3][4]

Since most of her brothers are either incarcerated or deceased, Enedina has managed the financial aspect of the organization, overseen alliances, and taken the lead of the Tijuana Cartel alongside Luis Fernando (before his capture in 2014).[3] Her historical contacts with drug suppliers in Colombia managed to keep the organization afloat.[5]

Early life

Enedina Arellano Félix was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, on April 12, 1961, in a family of drug traffickers.[6] In 1977, when she was sixteen, Enedina reportedly harbored a dream of becoming the Mazatlán Carnival Queen but abandoned it after her two brothers, Ramón and Benjamín, were wanted by the United States and the Mexican government. During that time, her older brothers were working for Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, who would eventually give them the drug corridor in Tijuana, Baja California.[7]

Criminal career

Enedina enrolled at a private university in Guadalajara, Jalisco, graduating with a bachelor's degree in accounting.[7] By the mid 1980s, Enedina was working with the family business, but was never considered by the authorities as a visible head in the Tijuana Cartel. Nonetheless, after the fall of the former cartel's financial brain, Jesús Labra Avilés, alias El Chuy, in the year 2000, Enedina began to directly manage the money laundering activities of the criminal organization.[2]

Family members in the Tijuana Cartel

Enedina is the sister of former cartel leaders Benjamín, Carlos, Eduardo, Francisco Javier, Francisco Rafael and Ramón.[3] Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano captured in 2014, the son of Alicia,[8] Enedina's husband, Luis Raúl Toledo Carrejo, was accused by the United States Department of Treasury in the year 2005 for having links with the Tijuana Cartel.[9] Alicia Arellano Félix, the sister of Enedina, is currently a leader in the Tijuana Cartel.[10]

Cartel workings

Since the apprehension of Benjamín in 2002, the Mexican government was able to severely undermine the Tijuana Cartel but failed to destroy it. Enedina has been a leader in the organization since 2003.[11] After the arrest of Eduardo in 2008, Enedina finally became the leader of the Tijuana clan along with her nephew.[4]

Enedina has helped contribute a more "business-like vision" instead of the old and violent practices of her brothers, who previously led the Tijuana Cartel before they were arrested or killed.[12] She forged alliances with other criminal organizations, as opposed to her brothers, who often resorted to violence.[6] The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Mexican media identify Enedina as the first and one of the few women to lead a criminal organization in the world other than Sandra Avila Beltran in Mexico, activities historically reserved for men.[2][13]

Enedina has several aliases, including: La Jefa, La Madrina, and La Narcomami. The authorities in the United States and Mexico consider Enedina the "financial brains" of the Tijuana Cartel.[3][14]

Kingpin Act

In June 2000, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Enedina under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.[15]

In media

Enedina Arellano Félix is portrayed in Narcos: Mexico by Mayra Hermosillo.

See also

References
  1. "Arellano Felix Organization: Tier II Designations" (PDF). Office of Foreign Assets Control. United States Department of Treasury. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  2. Ravelo, Ricardo (30 April 2011). "Enedina Arellano Félix, la primera jefa narca". Proceso (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  3. Wilson, Simone (3 September 2011). "Enedina Arellano Felix: Meet Mexico's First Female Drug Lord (Hot)". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  4. Vulliamy 2010, p. 26.
  5. Dudley, Steven (3 May 2011). "Who Controls Tijuana?". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  6. Santamaría, Arturo (2012). Las jefas del narco. Grijalbo. ISBN 978-6073109390.
  7. Ravelo, Ricardo (1 May 2011). "Enedina, La Jefa". El Diario de Coahuila (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  8. Ramsey, Geoffrey (14 September 2012). "Woman to Head Gulf Cartel After 'El Coss' Capture: Reports". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  9. Otero, Silvia (19 August 2006). "La PGR busca desmantelar red de "lavado" de los Arellano". El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  10. Castillo, Gustavo (1 September 2012). "Extraditan a Eduardo Arellano Félix a EU". La Jornada (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  11. Dávila, Patricia (7 January 2012). "Tijuana, todavía plaza de los Arellano". Proceso (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  12. Hernández Tripp, Carolina. "Mujeres en el crimen". Zeta (in Spanish). Choix Editores. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  13. Harris, Paul (11 August 2012). "Fascinated US awaits trial of Mexican drug cartel's 'Queen of the Pacific'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  14. "Tijuana cartel member arrested in Mexico". Fox News. 3 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  15. "An overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and Executive Order 12978 of October 21, 1995" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Treasury. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.

Bibliography
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