MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A gunman in a clown costume shot and killed the oldest brother of one of Mexico's most notorious drug trafficking families in the resort of Los Cabos, authorities said on Saturday. 
 
 Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, 63, a former leader of the Tijuana Cartel, was shot in the head late on Friday at a family gathering in the southern tip of the state of Baja California Sur, a spokesman for state prosecutors said. 
 
 "A person dressed as a clown took his life," he said. 
 
 Local media reported that the killer had two accomplices, but this was not yet clear, the spokesman said. The gunman fled the scene. 
 
 Arellano Felix spent nearly 15 years behind bars for drug-related offenses after his arrest in Mexico in late 1993. Extradited to the United States in 2006, he was later paroled and walked free on his return to Mexico in early 2008. 
 
 Another official working with state prosecutors said Arellano Felix, the oldest of the brothers who headed the gang, was not wanted by authorities at the time of his death. 
 
 The possibility that his killer had ties to organized crime was being investigated, the official said. 
 
 Led by a large family of brothers and sisters, the Tijuana Cartel was one of the most powerful drug gangs in Mexico until it was gradually weakened by the capture or killing of several its leading members during the previous decade. 
 
 Arellano Felix's younger brothers, Francisco Javier, Benjamin and Eduardo are serving prison sentences in the United States. Another of his brothers, Ramon, was killed in a shootout with police in 2002. 
 
 (Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Doina Chiacu) 

 Gunmen dressed as clowns have shot dead one of Mexico’s most powerful former drug lords while he was attending a children’s party. 
 
 Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, 63, was at the party during family celebrations in Cabo San Lucas, a major tourist resort in the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, AP reports. 
 
 Gunmen dressed in costumes which included a wig and a round red nose entered the party which was being held in the luxurious Casa Oceano tourist area. 
 
 Arellano Felix was hit at point blank range “by two bullets, one in the thorax and one in the head,” state special investigations prosecutor Isai Arias told AP. 
 
 The “clowns” then fled the crime scene and a massive police operation failed to find them. 
 
 Farncisco Rafael was the oldest of seven Arellano Felix brothers, who once dominated drug trafficking between Mexico and California through their brutal cartel, inspiring characters in the Steven Soderbergh film, “Traffic.” 
 
 The Tijuana cartel was one of Mexico’s three largest drug outfits, but most of the brothers have been either killed or arrested, leaving rival groups to take over the trade. 
 
 The cartel made headlines in 2006, when it was discovered they had dug trafficking tunnels from Tijuana through to California. 
 
 Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix was arrested in 1980 in San Diego, California, for selling drugs and returned to Mexico upon his release on bail. 
 
 In 1993, he was arrested in Mexico and jailed on drug charges. 
 
 He was extradited to the United States in 2006 and was sentenced to six years in prison after confessing to selling drugs to an undercover agent. 
 
 He was released in 2008, winning time off his sentence for good behavior, and repatriated to Mexico, according to his attorney at the time. 
 
 Police killed another brother, Ramon, in a shootout in 2002. 
 
 Three other brothers are in US prisons, including Eduardo, who was sentenced to 15 years by a California court in August for money laundering. 
 
 Security experts believe the cartel is now run by the brothers’ sister Enedina and her son Fernando, known as “The Engineer.” 
 
 Violence linked to drug trafficking and organized crime has left more than 70,000 dead in Mexico over the past seven years. 
 
 This story originally appeared on News.com.au.
– It's an ignoble ending for one of Mexico's most notorious cartel chiefs: Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix was shot dead in Cabo San Lucas on Friday, and as a spokesman for state prosecutors tells Reuters, "A person dressed as a clown took his life." The costume actually makes sense, because Arellano Felix, who once headed up the ruthless Tijuana Cartel, was attending a child's birthday party. He was shot point-blank "by two bullets, one in the thorax and one in the head." Media including the New York Post are reporting that the gunman had two accomplices, but officials have yet to confirm that. Arellano Felix was the oldest of seven brothers who ran the Tijuana Cartel and inspired characters in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic. Three brothers are serving time in the US, while a fourth was killed in a 2002 gun fight with police. Arellano Felix himself served 15 years, but had been free since 2008.