Mexican soccer legend witnessed clown murder Tijuana kingpin

Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer, Jared Borgetti, was present at the private party in Los Cabos when an assassin dressed as a clown murdered Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, the former head of the Tijuana Cartel.

Professional boxer Omar Chavez, son of the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez, was also present at the luxury Ocean House suite in the Marbella hotel. The pair both submitted statements to the Baja California Attorney General’s Office confirming that they were at the party hosted by Arrelano when he was killed on Friday, October 18.

Over 40 witnesses have testified that a man dressed as a clown shot the host three times from point-blank range. Some witnesses said that the clown fled the crime scene in an automobile and headed toward the beach in order to escape via speed boat. No arrests have been made to date.

Francisco Arellano was the eldest of seven brothers who ran the Tijuana Cartel in the early 1990s when it was one of Mexico’s most powerful gangs. He was imprisoned in Mexico and then the United States from 1993 until 2008.

Borgetti, who is now a pundit for ESPN Deportes, represented Mexico in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and scored a record 46 goals in 89 appearances for Mexico. He played for a host of Mexican clubs and spent a year at Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League. Chavez is the current WBC Youth Intercontinental Welterweight Champion.

While it is not unheard of for gangsters to befriend celebrity stars (Frank Sinatra was famously close with mafia boss Sam Giancana), the news that such high-profile sportsmen were fraternizing with Arellano on the day of his death adds another level of absurdity to what was already one of the most bizarre stories to have emerged from Mexico’s drug wars.