After Mr. Hodoyan was released, he said the soldiers had tortured and threatened to kill him. Anyone can read what you share. After the archbishops killing, Ramon and Benjamin were no longer enigmas but front-page headlines-Mexicos most wanted fugitives. Russia missile attack on Ukraine injures 34, damages homes, Far from Russia, a pro-Moscow sliver of land tries to cling to its identity and keep war at bay, Man who lost wife, son in Texas mass shooting tells story. The account of Mr. Hodoyan's experiences was pieced together from interviews with his family, American officials in Mexico, and Mexican justice officials who knew him as an informant. Her mother is raising her three grandchildren. Ruth gave birth to their first child-also named Ruth-in San Diego a year later, and Montano baptized her. Los Narcojuniors era un grupo de jvenes sicarios adinerados, algunos de ellos consumidores de drogas y otros varios no, que el mismo Ramn Arellano encarg formar a El Kitty; sin embargo, el grupo intent hacerse de la plaza en Tijuana para el trfico de drogas ilcitas; hecho que Ramn respondi a su osada. He said, Dont talk to Ramon that way. Because Ramon did not forgive. Lina told her family: Im afraid of him. He is presumed dead. And with his disappearance, a promising window into the inner workings of one of If Alfredo said, Mama, I need a car, I got him a car. I knew about his rages. By then, he says, Ramon was just muscle. The 36-year-old Mr. Hodoyan hasn't been seen since and is presumed dead. I know Alfredo is innocent, Cristina Hodoyan said at the time. They would tolerate [Benjamin] at times, if it was a party at somebodys ranch outside of the city. According to American officials, the consul general, Thomas L. Randall, told the A.T.F. Looking up, I see Ramon sitting there with a scope, like an M-16, pointing at us surfing, the witness says. Tho "Sol Prendido for Borderland Beat The war begins in Tamaulipas. Angelica Bustamante is the granddaughter of Alfonso Bustamante, Tijuanas Rockefeller, the border pioneer who built the twin business towers that loom over this boomtown. Just saying.. or is it just me? Angelica belonged to a sheltered, well-chaperoned world of weddings and baptisms. In three days of declarations, including the sections on videotape, Mr. Hodoyan once again told all he knew about the Arellanos -- this time for the legal record. Alex replied: ''I am not sure if I can help Alfredo, but at least I am sure I will be free and clear for the rest of my life. Alex Hodoyan is a typical teenager living in Tijuana. Delicate swallowtail butterflies rest on china daisies. Families with such names as Bustamante, Fimbres and Anchondo coalesced into tight-knit circles that formed the core of Tijuana society. He was doubtful of Alex truly being a citizen -well, he sure as hell had ways of confirming his citizenship.These brothers knew they were breaking the law & working 4 some badass people -everything has consequences -whether good or bad -like the bible says "Money Is The Root Of All Evilness ", Great post love to here about los arellano past, Alex Hodoyan is the gay guy in the movie traffic. Their fate poses an uncomfortable question for this cosmopolitan border city: How did a bunch of kids from Tijuanas wealthiest neighborhoods get mixed up with some of the deadliest men in the hemisphere? Personal Information Emilio said, If theyre not helping her, they must think I betrayed them. It made him think they viewed him as an enemy.. Mr. Valdez became a top operative in the organization, arranging drug shipments and assassinations, the Mexican and American police have charged in court. In Mexico, where ties of blood and ritual kinship are nearly sacred and the law absolves suspects from incriminating immediate relatives, it was a formidable undertaking. But by the mid-1980s, even this reliable terrain began to shift. Webbrother and fled back to Tijuana. After returning to Mexico, he went to meet his brother at a safehouse used by the Tijuana Cartel. For his parents the conversations were agonizing. General Gutierrez Rebollo's officers, he said, warned him before the interview that if he told the A.T.F. Weber Rodriguezs arrest was the latest twist in the story of Mexicos former drug czar, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, charged in February with being on the payroll of the late drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes. He was walking straight into a military trap. Their eldest son was in the custody of powerful Mexican military officers who, Alex hinted, would think nothing of killing him. His account was relayed by officials in Washington and Mexico who said they had reviewed reports the agent filed at the time. That did not qualify Paez as a suitable fiance for the daughter of the president of the Tijuana Convention and Visitors Bureau. ), At Willie Nelson 90, country, rock and rap stars pay tribute, but Willie and Trigger steal the show, Wildfires in Anchorage? But if they hurt me here, who will take care of my little girls? Alfredo was with the Arellanos and his gf was raped and killed first, then he. U.S. officials say the cartel executed him. Angelica wasnt the only well-to-do Tijuanan to bring a reputed trafficker into the family. Instead, when Angelica was 16, she tearfully revealed to her mother that she was pregnant. And Emilio-Did you know his father was the cousin of a Mexican president?-lived right around the corner. The information he had given to redeem himself had probably just gone to benefit another cartel. On the tape, he sits center stage, recounting in a soft voice how his brother and a circle of their childhood friends joined a criminal enterprise that killed dozens of police commanders, prosecutors, drug rivals and innocent bystanders. The fraternal struggle that played itself out in the courtroom left one brother facing the possibility of decades in jail and the other presumed dead. Like he was going to scare us, or [was] joking around. They were hastily married not long before the birth of their twins in 1988. WebAlex Hodoyan (died 1997) was the younger brother of narcojunior Alfredo Hodoyan. (These people have last-minute commitments and problems, one relative says. Giants outfielder Joc Pederson and his brother, Champ, who has Down syndrome, were But it wouldnt have mattered. Lina disappeared during the 2000 Thanksgiving weekend and turned up dead. Antes, un A cuatro aos de su liberacin, El Lobo permanece en libertad y se especula que regres a vivir a San Diego, California. '', ''He can't,'' Mr. Hodoyan insisted. They began to change around 1985, when Cristina picked up her daughter at a rock concert and was introduced to a flamboyant teenager with flashy gold chains on his wrists and a big gold medallion around his neck. Witness Protection Program in exchange for his testimony against the cartel. The Arellano Felix brothers did that and more-they exploited one of Tijuanas treasures: its youth. Hodoyan Palacios form parte de los In the bare room, the agent introduced himself to Mr. Hodoyan, blindfolded and cuffed to a bed. Tape recordings of some of Mr. Hodoyan's phone calls to his family were made available to The New York Times by participants in the events who requested anonymity. A new, cash-rich generation of drug traffickers was jostling for control of Tijuana; they took advantage of police and government corruption, and of the citys strategic location at the doorstep of the worlds largest narcotics market. Five days later, Adriana Hodoyan, who is 30, traveled to Guadalajara and gave the consulate a photo of Alex and a detailed account of the travel route he had planned. To Dario Garin, the president of the Tijuana Country Club, the Arellano Felixes allure boiled down to two simple things: Money. De acuerdo con reportes de prensa, el fallo de los magistrados que fue por mayora y no por unanimidad, present que la responsabilidad del acusado en el mltiple homicidio no fue demostrada e incluso negaron el valor de la declaracin de El Kitty que involucraba a EL Lobo en los homicidios. And that was merely the first chapter in a life never imagined by Angelicas parents. On Sept. 20, Adriana Hodoyan, Alex's sister, called the United States consulate in Guadalajara to say she believed that her brother, an American citizen, had vanished there. It was a surprise to a lot of people in Tijuana who had dealings with them without knowing what they did, Montano says. Lina returned to Tijuana the next day and disappeared. As his legal woes deepened, Emilio complained to a relative that his wife Lina was receiving not a cent from Ramon Arellano. Murdered by the Tijuana cartel. American diplomats in Mexico learned of Mr. Hodoyan's captivity shortly after he was imprisoned, but did nothing to help him. MEXICO CITY -- The Giants and Padres teamed up to hold a Play Ball event at Estadio Alfredo Harp Hel on Saturday morning, hosting over 100 local youth from the John Langdon Down Foundation in conjunction with Major League Baseballs Mexico City Series. They seemed small-time. Completely neurotic. Authorities on both sides of the border believe the organization was responsible for shipping billions of dollars of cocaine into the United States over the last decade. As in Los Angeles, the past is not taken quite so literally. The protected witness returned to the scene of an all-night drinking session and found two hungover gunmen playing soccer with a ball that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a third gunmans head. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Drawing on his prodigious memory, he poured out what he knew about the Arellanos in manic bursts. Nicholas Goldberg: Is God on the side of blasphemy laws? ''No! Police told the family that he appeared to have been tortured in front of her. By the end of 1996, Alfredo Hodoyan Adrianas youngest brother was in custody in San Diego. ''Had this person done even the minimum which duty, regulation, law and custom indicate, the consular service would not have been ignorant of Mr. Hodoyan's detention,'' said Mr. Hamilton, the spokesman for the embassy in Mexico City. Worried about incriminating his younger brother, Alejandro Hodoyan left a few days later without telling his hosts and returned to Tijuana. What parent doesn't wish for their kids to live a positive life. American Federal agents arrested Mr. Valdez and Alfredo Hodoyan on Sept. 30 in San Diego, and at Mexico's request United States prosecutors opened an extradition case to return them to Mexico for trial. She called, Montano says, and begged the priest to deliver a letter to the pope explaining the Arellano Felixes innocence. Father, Im asking this of you because I trust you, Ruth implored, and, according to the priest, I didnt even think about the fact that she was the wife of a fugitive., Ramon met the priest at a busy Mexico City cafe in December 1993 and they drove to the papal nunciate for Ramons three-hour private audience with the nuncio. After two hours, the official said, the agent believed that he ''had a live one.'' Mexican military officials announced the arrest of General Gutierrez Rebollo. Emilio Valdez Mainero and Alfredo Hodoyan were linked to the Arellano Felix drug organization, which controls the lucrative drug corridor from Baja California into the United States. Thirteen days later, when Mr. Hodoyan was driving in downtown Tijuana with his mother, armed men blocked the path of their vehicle, dragged him out, shoved him into another car and sped away. He and Angelica had been divorced for a year, her family says. He felt very brave strutting around with them. Emilio got 30 years. If he got drunk or started using, you didnt even want to be around him, the protected witness says. WebIndividuals featured as characters in Narcos and Narcos: Mexico. They have new cars and they invite the girls to a disco and meet their cousins. Mexican authorities believed that gunmen led by Ramon Arellano Felix mistook the archbishops car for that of a rival druglord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. Trending pages Benjamn Arellano Flix Ramn Arellano Flix Alex Hodoyan Enedina Arellano Flix David Barron Corona Alfredo Hodoyan Arturo Pez Alicia Maria Arellano Flix All items (15) # A B C D E F G Some American officials involved in the case now acknowledge that they were too willing to turn a blind eye to the methods used by the Mexican military to secure Mr. Hodoyan's cooperation. Cristinas older son, Agustin Hodoyan, would wave when Ramon drove by in a red sports car, rock-and-roll booming from his stereo. 'I'd rather have them kill me.' Mexican anti-drug agents flew Mrs. Hodoyan from Tijuana for the hearing. They interviewed him, and hoped that he would eventually be a cooperating witness for the Government against the Arellanos. bureau declined to make the agent who questioned Mr. Hodoyan available for an interview. She died with the person she loved, like a soap opera, her brother Jaime says. Emilio ended up in a U.S prison, convicted of drug trafficking in 1998. Motor Speedway. After that, his brother Alfredo was arrested on gun charges. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing this? He consulted with the No. They were graduates of the finest private schools, at home on both sides of the border, the children of families that knew or were related to some of the most powerful people in Baja California. It's WebCristina and Alejandro Hodoyan are middle class parents from Tijuana, Mexico. Every Friday or Saturday night he would be at a party or a disco. ''The amazing thing is, the guy just doesn't shut up,'' said a United States official who questioned the A.T.F. CRISTINA PALACIOS DE HODOYAN OPENS THE DOOR TO A FOYER FILLED WITH a large doll collection and other touches of the decorative juvenilia that adults somtimes use to reinforce a sense of innocence. And it was anything but bland. After 28 days on the job, Ibarra was shot to death Sept. 14, 1996, outside the Mexico City airport. So many kids from society got involved with them, she sighs. He moved freely about the headquarters of the federal drug agency in the capital, where General Gutierrez Rebollo had been transferred. His life changes drastically when he is recruited into Ramn Arellano Flixs Narco Juniors gang. They just want to help me now because they have problems with the military and the police. It backs up investigators claims that the general used his power to help Carrillo in his multibillion-dollar smuggling enterprise. If Father Montano was in denial, he wasnt alone. ''He was wearing a big thick chain with a big gold cross encrusted with emeralds,'' said a Hodoyan relative, who asked not to be identified. Alejandro Furth as Ramon Salgado Status Ruth Serrano Corona was with her husband Benjamin when Mexican soldiers burst into their bedroom in March. ``Yes, thats him! After a long period of few consequences, the narcojuniors were about to discover that U.S. prosecutors couldnt care less about their fathers, wives, friends or family connections. Hence, let THE USER BEAR THE COST OF DRUG USE instead of socializing it like now.Trafficking and selling outside of the officially sanctioned channels will remain illegal and pursued BUT since legal drugs will be available cheaply there will be no reason for consumers to buy illegal drugs outside of the officially sanctioned channels.Sure: ensuring that society has access to cheap drugs under controlled circumstances is not for free, but it is going to be 1000 times cheaper than the current situation of paying for cops, lawyers, prisons, disease, violence and corruption caused by illegality. Since then, the military has dismissed and is investigating 33 other officers, including four generals, on corruption and narcotics charges, defense officials said. You have no rules. ~ Emilio was convicted of orchestrating drug shipments from behind bars in San Diego in 1998. The government put him up at a hotel, where he talked with federal agents and prosecutors. Alfredo Hodoyan era apodado como El Lobo tuvo una estrecha relacin con los hermanos Arellano Flix en Tijuana. But soon all the teenagers knew Benjamins kid brother, 12 years his junior. Weber Rodriguez, who was director of intelligence at the institute, is accused of kidnapping Alejandro Hodoyan in September 1996 and holding him for several months to extract information about reputed drug lords, the Arellano Felix brothers of Tijuana. The surname occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 66 Lina was a far savvier player in the social scene. I remember him perfectly, Hodoyans mother, Cristina Hodoyan de Palacios, referring to Weber Rodriguez, told authorities on Tuesday during a hearing at the prison. One by one, friends the Hodoyans had known since childhood were drawn into the Arellanos' circle of riches and violence. Frankie Flowers(Francisco Flores)? You have women all over the place. Gonzalez shakes her head. But in March, another Tijuana junior, Walter Ruiz Fimbres, 21, turned up in Chicago newspapers, arrested in Deerfield, Ill., with a carload of marijuana, and was slapped with a $10-million bond. The nuncio blessed Ramon, and they left. Mexican officials now suspect that much of the information the general extracted from Mr. Hodoyan went directly to the rival drug organization. The mother said she had prodded Alex to tell the Assistant United States Attorney, Gonzalo P. Curiel, about his torture in Mexico. Their statements are contained in confidential court records. ''He even bought new clothes for me.''. That meeting was denied. ''He was crazy, loco, desperate,'' Bertha Hodoyan said. It is also based on confidential Mexican court documents as well as tape recordings, obtained by The New York Times, of telephone calls he made to his family in Tijuana last year when he was a military prisoner. WebAlfredo Hodoyan was extradited to Mexico and is now awaiting trial in Almaloya, Mexico's high security prison outside of Mexico City. On the afternoon of Sept. 11, Alex Hodoyan went to an existing Arellano safe house in a working-class neighborhood. I went Hey whats going on. Hes like, Im just sitting here. But I could see him with the tripod pointing with his scope. A Mexican drug prosecutor who saw the two men together toward the end of Mr. Hodoyan's captivity said they were ''like father and son.''. ''My son, it's a trap -- you're in a trap, try to understand,'' Cristina Hodoyan entreated in a phone call on Dec. 10. Finally he broke down in sobs. In the end, Mr. Hodoyan was not much help to American prosecutors. WebHe has since been arrested for drug corruption. Ramon became the godfather of a number of children in Tijuana, Cristina de Hodoyan said in 1996. Walt has to tell Alex hed been lying about the death of his brother Alfredo to make the hapless narcojunior come with him. Mexican court documents describe Mr. Arellano as a compulsive murderer who has killed several times for sport and is implicated in more than 60 homicides. Marcos Santos played by Francisco Rubio (season 3), Andreas Father Montano says he was not the only one who was stunned to discover that the Arellanos were drug traffickers. The Hodoyan children came of age in Tijuana discos where teen-agers experimented with cocaine in the free-wheeling way of wealthy American youth. Id never heard of him, Gonzalez says. agent as an ''unusual but not inappropriate'' place for the meeting. Alfredo Hodoyan and one other gunman ''were responsible for finding the victim, whom they murdered in the hallway that connects the restaurant and the bathrooms of the hotel.''. She had volunteered at the church since she was 16, reading Scripture at services and carrying the wine, chalice and water. La facilidad con la que Alfredo Hodoyan cruzaba la frontera con Estados Unidos con total facilidad y sin levantar ninguna sospecha se deba a que contaba con la nacionalidad estadounidense ya que naci en un hospital en suelo de la nacin norteamericana. It was a sweltering summer day, but Mr. Arellano sported a mink jacket and leather pants. American diplomats in Guadalajara made what they later described as routine phone calls to local police stations and jails to see if he was there. After the first contact, Mr. Hoyodan was allowed to call his parents regularly, and as he talked in guarded language, they realized that he was informing on the Arellano gang and was under pressure to turn on his own brother. They were Emilio Valdez Mainero and Alfredo Hodoyan. When Gutierrez Rebollo became head of the countrys anti-drug effort on Dec. 6, Hodoyan agreed to work as his bodyguard in return for protection. Mr. Hodoyan made it clear that General Gutierrez Rebollo had promised him that his statements against Alfredo could not be used in any Mexican or American court because they were brothers. ''. Other wives, like Lina Literas, hunkered down and became one of the boys-but she was not crazy about Ramon. '', Mexican officers told the A.T.F. Ramon and Benjamin retreated to gated beach houses south of Rosarito, according to the protected witness, where Ramons appetite for cocaine and his huge steriod rages made him increasingly unpredictable. Her body turned up four days later with the corpse of her married boyfriend. Ramons habit of treating everyone to champagne endeared him to the Instituto set. Biographical Information Enedina Arellano Flix had David Agents knew about the tortures and did nothing.. they already had all the information they needed and Alfredo. had given all the information. but none the less the Arellanos had informants of there own with the counterintelegence.. so yes he was better off dead than testifie against your own brother and possibly get his daiughters killed. good you died greedy SOB. all the american counterparts knew about the torture investigate them starting with Mr. Curiel and the American Counsel in Guadalajara indictments will make them talk.. havent read the article but who is the guy in between the lord of the skies and the arrellano? Officially, the Arellano Felixes were on the lam. 'You know what?' One of the flashiest was Ramon Arellano, a leader of the gang who met members of the Hodoyan family at a society wedding in Tijuana. Emilio told her family he wont rest until he finds out what happened, a relative says. ?no I think it was the protected witness,don't remember his name,real name is Miguel Nunez. A HOT DAY IN TIJUANA IS COOLING INTO A GOLDEN SUNSET. But I never wanted to ask him for a favor, Agustin said, because nothing is free. Not everybody had those reservations. ''Every time the D.E.A. ''He was crying, telling us he was sorry. History keeps repeating itself, Jaime Literas says. Father Gerardo Montano says he was first introduced to Benjamin by Ruth Serrano Corona, a striking blond in her early 20s who was very devout and very proper, when he was parish priest at San Francisco Javier church. A large middle class feeds a pulsing youth culture of crowded discos and hip rock bands. The scar, he said, was where skin peeled away when his duct tape blindfolds were changed. In the last days of November 1996, he summoned Mexican civilian prosecutors to Guadalajara. As soon as the Hodoyan family realized Alex was missing, they turned to the American authorities for help. He was kidnapped while driving with his mother in Tijuana several days later and has never been seen since. By the time Ramon was killed in Mazatlan in February, at least 25 young Tijuanans from established families had been killed or jailed in a 15-year period, all because of their connection to the cartel. Join Facebook to connect with Alfredo Hodoyan and others you may know. Their beeper goes off and they have to go.) An invitation that found its way into U.S. court files directed the juniors to a splashy post-baptism disco party hosted by Ramon and the babys other godfather, Kitty Paez. Alejandro Hodoyan, known to his family and friends as Alex, seemed an unlikely candidate for a career in crime. It is the story of her daughter Angelicas first marriage. ''I don't want them using me,'' he said, cursing the Arrelanos. He had been granted formal immunity from prosecution in Mexico in exchange for his testimony. In May 2001, Arturo Kitty Paez, 34, became the first accused lieutenant of the Tijuana drug cartel to be extradited to the United States for cocaine trafficking. En los ltimos das de 2016, Hodoyan Palacios recobr su libertad a solo 14 aos de haber permanecido tras las rejas en tres diferentes penales federales de mxima seguridad: del Altiplano en el Estado de Mxico, en Tamaulipas y en Chiapas. saw this guy, he was walking around having a good time,'' Mr. McGivney said. Alfredo Hodoyan Palacios era un empresario inmobiliario que administraba las propiedades en renta de la familia Hodoyan y no un matn, al menos eso deca su mam Cristina Palacios. But how had a penniless 19-year-old come up with the money for a liquor license? Then the American prosecutor, Mr. Curiel, said he intended to put Mr. Hodoyan before a grand jury investigating Arellano operatives, including his brother and his friend Mr. Valdez, Mr. Hodoyan's family said. At one point, the elder Mr. Hodoyan told his son that a Mexican lawyer who had defended the Arellanos was offering to help get Alex out of military custody. They were elated but deeply worried. First The Arellano Felix brothers might be the life of the disco scene, but some established families did not care to be this intimately associated with them. And Tijuana discos are still prowled by charming strangers who seem far too eager to buy drinks for the whole table. She shakes her head. But the chain of dark destinies did not end there. 2 official in the embassy, Charles H. Brayshaw, who sent him to the consul general for Mexico City, a senior diplomat who handles problems involving United States citizens. Foto: Especial. not sorry for parents, just the little girls,..but Mr. Curiel and other U.S. Judging from U.S. court files, Ramons Rat Pack also knew he was not the most predictable party guest. I don't think one single drug trafficker took to the "business"on their own,the next suspect,their enemiesnooo,then who could have dragged them to the life?? Kitty Paez? The family still hopes that Alex will someday Once, Agustin served as a translator for Ramon and an attractive young American at a party given by Lina Literas boyfriend, Emilio. Mexican police say some of the brothers were the proteges of a well-connected relative, the Sinaloa drug kinpin Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, who was jailed in 1989 in connection with the murder of U.S. DEA agent Enrique Camarena. In a sworn statement before his second disappearance, Hodoyan, 35, wrote that he met the general during his interrogation in Guadalajara, and that he was tortured there. But James J. McGivney, the agency's spokesman, said Mr. Hodoyan had given no indication he had ever been mistreated. ''I was born in San Diego,'' he said. These boys are from good families, known to all of Tijuana. His testimony, which produced eight hours of videotape and more than 200 pages of transcripts, is viewed on both sides of the border as a law enforcement triumph, a breakthrough in Mexico's flagging fight against drug traffickers. Emilio Valdez Mainero seemed an appropriately upper-tier husband, but he too allegedly found employment in the Arellano Felix organization, recruiting young assassins who belong to Tijuanas upper class-some of them his childhood friends.
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