

![The Narco 'Juniors' of the Arrellano-Felix Cartel [Video]](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/art/afo1.gif)

AFO's innovative strategy is befriending and recruiting 'juniors'--young, educated men of middle-and upper-class families living on both sides of the San Diego-Tijuana border. AFO uses them as drug runners and hit men. 'Juniors' get involved with the cartel not necessarily to become wealthy but for "la fama"--the fame of the gangster life. This is the story of what happened to one of these young men, told by his family and a fellow 'junior.'





An overview of the AFO's organizaton, operations and strategy, and how authorities in Mexico and the United States have gone after trying to shut them down.





Here's a rundown, with descriptions and pictures, of the Arellano brothers and their associates.





A report detailing the disappearance of Alex Hodoyan, a young middle class man from Tijuana who worked for the Arellano-Felix Organization (see also: video report).





Landgraff is a group supervisor at the DEA in San Diego, currently investigating the Arellano Felix cartel. De La Montaigne, retired special agent for the FBI, was stationed in San Diego for seven years and supervised the Arellano Felix Cartel Task Force. They describe what makes this cartel different from other cartels in its operations, brutality and strategies.





This July 2000 article is part of the San Diego Union Tribune's series on the AFO.

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