Juan “El Rueda” Francisco Sillas-Rocha, Lieutenant of the Arellano-Felix Cartel, is Extradited to the US

 “Socalj” for Borderland Beat

Also known as “El Sillas,” Rocha was responsible for the kidnapping of 3 of “El Mayo’s” relatives and multiple killings before his arrest in 2011.

Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha, known in the world of drug trafficking as "El Sillas", was extradited to the United States for the crimes of criminal association and against health, after he was claimed by the North Dakota Federal Court.

He is one of the most renowned lieutenants within the Arellano Félix Cartel, a criminal organization to which he belonged between 2004 and 2011, according to US authorities, in addition to maintaining a dispute with members of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Although his whereabouts had been unknown since 2020, the Mexican government granted his extradition. The delivery of El Sillas was carried out by elements of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic (FGR) at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM).

“El Rueda”, as he was also known, was arrested on November 5, 2011 in Tijuana, Baja California, by members of the Mexican Army. The Mexican authorities had him identified as a "main lieutenant" of Fernando Sánchez Arellano, alias El Ingeniero, leader of the Arellano Félix criminal organization.

At the time of his capture, three other members of the Arellano Félix were also arrested, identified as Jesús Manuel Mariscal Ramírez, Alejandro Sotelo Pineda and Cristian Ezequiel Sotelo Rodríguez, who were seized five small arms, ammunition, and a couple of vehicles.

The case wound up in North Dakota after Jorge “Sneaky” Arandas, a member of the Arellano Felix gang, set up shop in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota. Investigators say Arandas ordered the killing of Lee Avila, of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, in June 2005 for failing to pay for five pounds of methamphetamine that Arandas originally received from Sillas-Rocha. Arandas told police he feared that he would be killed for not paying Sillas-Rocha, so he had Avila murdered to show strength.

The indictment filed against Sillas-Rocha in March 2011 said that in addition to drug trafficking, Sillas-Rocha was involved in the supervision of crews that “participated in murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, public corruption of government officials, money laundering and other illegal conduct” meant to make money for the cartel.

The document also accuses Sillas-Rocha of attempting to arrange the killings of two California residents. He allegedly offered a San Diego street gang $25,000 to kill them, paying $4,000 in advance. When the gang couldn’t find his targets, Sillas-Rocha upped his offer to $50,000 if the killings could be done quickly. He later ordered another man to kill an entire family inside their home, investigators said.

Three men believed to be involved in a murder-for-hire plot commissioned by the Tijuana drug cartel were arrested in 2011 in an early morning raid in Palmdale, California, a community located in northern Los Angeles county.

According to former California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Jorge Ernesto Sillas-Rocha, 27, and 24-year-old Victor Manuel Magana Gonzalez were taken into custody during the 6:50 a.m. raid at a Palmdale home. The two were accused of conspiracy and murder-for-hire.

Special agents from the California Department of Justice seized two AR-15 assault weapons, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and about $20,000 in cash. A third suspect, 34-year-old Daniel Ceballos, was arrested later at a Starbucks Coffee shop nearby, officials said.

Investigators said Juan Sillas-Rocha directed the suspects to kill five family members in California in a staged home-invasion robbery. The would-be assassins were to be paid thousands for committing the killings, officials said.

Fight Against the Sinaloa Cartel

A native of Culiacán, Sinaloa, “El Sillas” became famous for being one of the most violent drug traffickers, as he is held responsible for countless murders and multiple confrontations, acts that he carried out under the direct orders of “El Ingeniero.”

It was Fernando Sánchez who would have given him the task in 2008 of maintaining a dispute against Teodoro García Simental, ”El Teo,” a member of the Sinaloa Cartel, in order to take control of criminal activities in Tijuana. Likewise, he is alleged to have ordered the kidnapping of three women, who would be relatives of Ismael Zambada García, “El Mayo,” on September 25, 2010, in Baja California. This was in response to the disappearance of his sister, Lizeth Sillas Rocha, on July 30 of that year in Nogales, Sonora.

Narco banners, signed by 'The Ghost of Ramon Arellano' went up in Culican, claiming that 'they' were in town to kill the family of El Mayo. Speculation ran about who was behind the kidnapping and the banners. Days later, the Army raided a run-down safe house in Tijuana and rescued the three women, the kidnappers were in the service of Juan Sillas Rocha, apparently acting on his own, without permission from 'El Ingeniero'.

Juan Sillas Rocha was 'left on his own' by the CAF, Sinaloa wanted his head, and El Inge gave him up, to preserve to the agreement and peace. Sillas Rocha was a hunted man after that, fleeing Tijuana, and taking refuge in houses all over Mexico, at one point sending a message to the authorities, thru a lawyer, that he was an innocent man, and a butcher by trade, who was being persecuted without cause.

Background on El Rueda

Sillas began his career by robbing drug dealers, often killing them in an attempt to exert control over the plazas that belonged to El Teo. Sillas was not above snitching on his rivals, calling the authorities anonymously with tips about the location of the principal operators of the CAF.

His primary objective was to dismantle distribution cells in Baja California that were loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS). With this task, he also had the backing of the Tijuana cartel (CAF) who were seeking to reestablish control over their territories and smuggling routes.

These confrontations between rival groups brought the attention of both the police and the military, the culmination of which led to several high-profile arrests and seizures of narcotics. This also led to complications in the daily operations of the drug dealing cells. These groups pleaded to El Ingeniero to bring a halt to the assaults they were enduring, however, he was unable to help them adequately with this request.

El Ingeniero appointed El Sillas to lead the charge against the opposition, he also ordered other sicario cells to lend him support. El Sillas was the only person who was willing to take this task, other groups had attempted to regain control of the plaza, and had met with disastrous results.

By this time the representatives of the Sinaloa cartel had arrived in Tijuana. They came with fiscal incentives in order to “bring peace to the plaza,” giving El Teo and El Sillas the authority over the area.

They spoke of ending the internal struggles that had brought forth these bloody confrontations, and they would do this while still paying the CAF the right to use the plaza of Tijuana to smuggle their drugs into the U.S. through various cells.

This is how the CAF and El Ruedas began to lose control of the plaza. El Ingeniero openly supported El Ruedas until September of 2010 when Sillas kidnapped the nieces of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. This aggressive action causes the Sinaloa cartel to put a large price on the head of Juan Sillas Rocha.

El Ingeniero allowed El Sillas to be expelled from the CAF to show he was not supporting the kidnapping, and thus avoided a war with the CDS.

In the video released on Youtube, the people of EL Sillas said this kidnapping was in retaliation for a series of kidnappings and murders of the family of Juan Sillas Rocha, actions perpetrated by members of the CDS.

Unknown Location Since 2020

Despite being imprisoned in Mexico, his whereabouts have been unknown since 2020, according to the Seventh District Judge for Amparo in Criminal Matters, since he said he had no knowledge of which prison he was interned with. His location became somewhat diffuse after his transfer from the Federal Center for Social Readaptation (Cefereso) number 2 West, to the Jalisco Police Station for Sentenced Persons on February 19, 2020. The reasons for the change had to do with health problems, El Rueda claimed that in 2005 he had donated a kidney.

El Sillas claimed that this service was not adequately provided in Puente Grande. He added that the state penitentiary he applied to did have a hemodialysis unit and specialized doctors for his health condition. The Jalisco judge first asked prison authorities to provide him with El Sillas's health records, but nothing was sent to him.

In March 2020, the judge called El Sillas for an in-person hearing. However, prison authorities advised against an in-person hearing because of the dangerousness of El Sillas. "Given the high risk and dangerousness index of the detainee, coupled with the possibility that upon his way to court there could be an attempt to refuse him, we advise against it", prison authorities said. El Sillas' hearing was ordered to be held through videoconference. The presiding judge asked prison authorities to facilitate a room in jail for El Sillas to take the video meeting. However, the meeting was postponed multiple times. On 7 July 2020, the health record checkup meeting was canceled indefinitely after Puente Grande cited Wi-Fi issues.

In late 2020, El Sillas's defense team was able to show that the theft charge El Sillas was facing should not preside in a federal court because it fell under state jurisdiction. When a judge took the case in December, El Sillas's location was unknown. "The presiding judge has been unable to proceed with his criminal proceedings ... because the whereabouts of [El Sillas] have not been confirmed to us by Mexico's federal penitentiary system", the court confirmed. It is worth noting that Puente Grande prison closed in September, as reported by Borderland Beat.

Sources Infobae, AP News, Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat