Mexican drug trafficker Eduardo Arellano Felix released from US prison

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexican drug trafficker Eduardo Arellano Felix, former head of the Tijuana cartel, was released Wednesday from a Pennsylvania federal prison where he served a 15-year sentence on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to use illicit proceeds in the United States.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) confirmed to Efe today that Arellano Felix, known as “the Doctor,” is no longer in its custody.

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Although he had been sentenced to 15 years in prison, the 64-year-old Mexican national did not complete his sentence due to his extensive cooperation with U.S. authorities, which began in May 2013 when he pleaded guilty.

Part of his plea agreement with the government included being sentenced on only two of the seven counts he was charged with when he was extradited from Mexico in August 2012.

According to BOP data, Arellano Felix was being held in a low-security federal prison in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The capo’s information page will be updated by the end of the day, the agency told Efe.

On Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had anticipated that the drug trafficker would not be deported to Mexico after changing his “status” and possibly becoming a “protected witness.”

“The information we have is that his status was changed,” said the foreign minister in a press conference.

Ebrard explained that the United States “has no obligation” to explain the reason for a change of status of a detainee, although it is most likely that “the status of the witness changed”.

“But they did change the status, and it means that he will not be deported to Mexico on Wednesday,” he said.

BOP spokesman Donald Murphy told Efe that the bureau “does not provide additional information on inmates who are not in BOP custody.”

In northwestern Mexico, the Arellano Felix brothers’ cartel monopolized drug trafficking routes for more than 20 years through Tijuana.