SAN DIEGO — Suspected drug kingpin Francisco Javier Arellano Felix pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy Thursday after arriving on U.S. soil in a Coast Guard boat and being whisked to a downtown jail.
Arellano Felix did not speak during the hearing. His court-appointed attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf to racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances, and money laundering.
Arellano Felix, 36, had been captured on a sport boat in international waters Monday with seven other men, including Arturo Villarreal Heredia, who U.S. authorities said was probably his second-in-command.
"There is no discernible leader left to fill the void" in the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel, said John Fernandes, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's San Diego office. "I don't consider this organization disrupted. I consider this organization defunct."
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The men arrived at the Coast Guard's harborside facility around 8:15 a.m. The group was escorted to a motorcade of police vehicles and unmarked Chevy Suburbans as snipers watched from atop a hangar.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo S. Papas set a bail hearing Monday for Arellano Felix. The seven others were ordered held as material witnesses.
Arellano Felix's son was among three children, ages 5 to 11, who were on the 43-foot yacht, said Carol Lam, the U.S. attorney in San Diego. One was apparently a nephew; the third child's identity was unclear.
The children were brought to the United States and will be returned to Mexico, Fernandes said at a news conference.
