Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix dead: Former Tijuana cartel leader murdered by gunmen dressed as clowns

Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix

Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Tijuana Cartel, was killed on October 18, 2013.

Felix was executed at Hotel Marbella in the city of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, while he attended a children's party. Three gunmen men reportedly dressed up as clowns shot him.

Reports state that the 63-year-old was shot point-blank by the gunmen who escaped quickly after committing the murder. His body was identified by one of his sons.

A motive for the crime has not yet been identified.

The former cartel leader, who was the oldest of seven brothers who led the organization in the 1990s, had served a prison sentence in the United States after he was extradited from Mexico on charges of drug trafficking in 2006. He served two years in prison and was sent deported in 2008 to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. The gang he had headed rose to its height while he was in prison.

John Kirby, former federal prosecutor in San Diego who co-work the indictment against the Arellano Felix cartel leadership said, "He was never really part of the leadership of the big organization, mostly because he was in jail (in Mexico). He was arrested before they became what they really became."