 He was a close friend of former World Champion Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez, whom he considered as close as a brother of his.Francisco Rafael lived most of his early life as a businessman and playboy while his brothers, Benjamín and Ramón, became involved in the drug trade after moving to Tijuana in the 1980s.Francisco Rafael was first married to Victoria Barrionuevo and had three children (Francisco, Benjamín Arellano Barrionuevo, and an unnamed daughter); after separating, he married Rocío del Carmen Lizárraga Lizárraga, whom he kidnapped a few months after she was declared queen of a carnival in Mazatlán and just after her 18th birthday in May 1990.