Former CAF Lieutenant Juan Francisco Sillas-Rocha "El Sillas" Pleads Guilty in US Court

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Juan Sillas-Rocha, 45, of Tijuana, Mexico (initially from Sinaloa), pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Continuing Criminal Enterprise, and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Furtherance of the Continuing Criminal Enterprise before Chief Judge Peter Welte in Fargo, North Dakota. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later time.

On March 31, 2011, Sillas Rocha, also known as "El Rueda" was indicted by a grand jury in North Dakota in a Superseding Indictment on those three counts.

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 Teodoro García Simenta, "El Teo." 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.

Operation Speed Racer

As outlined at the plea hearing today before Judge Welte, an investigation was initiated in 2004 in Fargo, North Dakota, into the drug-trafficking activities of local drug dealers.  The investigation “Operation Speed Racer” revealed that from January 2002 until December 2005, Jorge Arandas, "Sneaky," supervised a continuing criminal enterprise responsible for transporting large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana to North Dakota and Minnesota from Washington, California, and Mexico. Arandas was supplied by Juan Sillas-Rocha or employees of Sillas-Rocha.

Sillas-Rocha was a distributor for the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO/CAF) and was supervised directly by Arturo Villareal Heredia, "El Nalgon," who worked for Javier Francisco Arellano-Felix, "El Tigrillo."  Both Villareal Heredia and Arellano-Felix were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. 

Lee Avila Murder

In 2005, Arandas arranged a 10-pound shipment of methamphetamine into the United States. Five pounds landed in Washington state and 5 pounds were delivered to Lee Avila at the West Acres Mall in Fargo, North Dakota. Lee Avila failed to pay for the drugs and members of the Arandas organization murdered Lee Avila in June of 2005, shooting him nine times in the presence of two small children. 

After the murder, Arandas read the article in the Fargo Forum newspaper about the homicide to Sillas-Rocha and he gave Arandas an extension to pay for the shipment. All five participants in the homicide pled guilty to their roles in this murder in furtherance of the continuing criminal enterprise. The participants in the homicide received the following sentences:

Gabriel Martinez - Life
Jorge Arandas - 40 years
Michael Petzold - 30 years
Alan Wessels - 23 years
Martin Carrillo - 20 years

After the arrest of Javier Arellano-Felix in 2006, his nephew, Fernando Sanchez-Arellano, "El Ingeniero," assumed control of the AFO. Under the leadership of Fernando Sanchez Arellano, Sillas-Rocha became a very powerful lieutenant in the cartel, controlling cells that were responsible for drug trafficking, armed conflicts with rival cartels, kidnappings, and numerous murders. Sillas-Rocha once boasted to authorities he killed up to 30 people a month during the Felix cartel’s prime in Tijuana, according to a detective in North Dakota.

"El Teo" Sinaloa Cartel's Tijuana Plaza Boss

Sinaloa Cartel Kidnappings

According to Sedena, Sillas-Rocha is credited with the kidnapping of three women, relatives of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of the most powerful leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, which occurred on September 25, 2010, in Tijuana.

The background on this kidnapping stemmed from brokering peace in Tijuana between the two rival cartels. Representatives of the Sinaloa cartel had arrived in Tijuana 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 Sillas began to lose control of the plaza. "El Ingeniero" openly supported El Ruedas until September 2010 when Sillas kidnapped the aunt, cousin, and niece 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 a video released on Youtube, the people of "El Silla"s 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. According to the authorities, the kidnappings were in retaliation for the kidnapping and disappearance of his sister Lizeth Sillas Rocha, perpetrated on July 30 of that same year, in Nogales, Sonora. 

Sillas-Rocha requested several Amparos throughout the years of his incarceration in Mexico to have authorities investigate the kidnapping and attempt to locate his missing sister. The relatives of "El Mayo" were rescued in a military operation, and one week later, "El Sillas" was captured.

ZETA Newspaper Threats

He issued death threats in 2010 against Adela Navarro Bello the director and also an editor of Semanario ZETA. US authorities had intercepted phone calls that the cartel looked to target "ZETA Editors".

The Mexican army confirmed the threat and assigned seven soldiers each to the top three editors for more than two months, until after the suspects were arrested. In May of that year, authorities arrested a group of hitmen who plotted to carry out the threat by attacking the Zeta Tijuana offices using grenades.

Zeta reported that a Sinaloa cartel operative was recruiting hit men in San Diego, that authorities freed alleged cop killers, and that traffickers in small towns east of Tijuana paid off police to allow street-level drug dealing. "It's not easy to take this route and commit to doing these investigations, but it's what we do," Navarro said, speaking in a newspaper conference room that features a portrait of Blancornelas above the manual typewriter he used as a cub reporter in the 1950s.

Zeta's editors say they are honoring Blancornelas and their colleagues who have been gunned down: co-founder Hector Felix in 1988, Blancornelas' driver, Luis Valero, in 1997, and editor Francisco Ortiz in 2004.

2011 Arrest

In February 2011, Sillas-Rocha ordered two individuals in California to be murdered for retribution for the alleged kidnapping and murder of a drug smuggler associated with Sillas-Rocha. During the course of the investigation, Sillas-Rocha ordered the murder of at least two intended victims who are identified by initials in the Superseding Indictment. After providing the confidential informant with photos and the address of the intended victims, three co-conspirators were arrested and charged in San Diego County with Conspiracy to Commit Murder. 

Arrested were Jorge Sillas, the brother of Sillas-Rocha, Victor Magana, and Danny Cepallo. All three defendants plead guilty in state court in San Diego and received the following prison sentences:

Jorge Sillas - 21 years
Victor Magana - 15 years
Danny Cepallo - 5 years

Sillas-Rocha was arrested on November 4, 2011, in Tijuana, Mexico, after he and three others had attacked a vehicle in Tijuana. He was served with a provisional arrest warrant issued by a court in Mexico which started the extradition process.

Sillas-Rocha continued his work for the cartel until his arrest in November 2011 but would acknowledge committing overt acts to further the conspiracy and CCE after 2011, while incarcerated in Mexico.

2022 Extradition

On September 8, 2022, after 11 years of litigation in Mexico, Sillas-Rocha was extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance in North Dakota on September 9, 2022. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota played a significant role in securing this extradition. This was after years of court battles, prison transfers and complaints about his treatment for health issues including kidney problems (he has one kidney). For almost a year in 2020, authorities did not know what prison Sillas was located in.

As part of “Operation Speed Racer”, 66 defendants were charged on 18 separate indictments, and the defendant’s guilty plea today it brings this 19-year investigation to a conclusion.

Sources DOJ, Zeta Tijuana, Borderland Beat, GOB.mx, NBC News, Milenio