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Border & Immigration

3 Arrested In Alleged Murder-For-Hire Plot

3 Arrested In Alleged Murder-For-Hire Plot
California authorities report a murder conspiracy was foiled and three hit men allegedly hired by a Tijuana drug gang were arrested without incident.

Three men who had allegedly been hired by a Tijuana drug gang to kill people in California for drug debts will face justice in San Diego. According to the California Attorney General's office, the alleged mastermind of the plot is a high-ranking hit man in Tijuana's Arellano Felix Organization.

The attorney general accuses, Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha, of plotting to pay hit men thousands of dollars for killing five people who owed the drug gang money.

Baja California authorities said Sillas Rocha, who is known as "Ruedas," is responsible for much of the recent drug violence in Tijuana.

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Ruedas remains at large. The San Diego District Attorney's office said a warrant for his arrest is pending.

In Mexico, Ruedas is also wanted for state crimes. There's no federal warrant that ties him to organized crime, however.

Meanwhile, the three men who were allegedly going to carry out the murders in California are set to be arraigned in Superior Court in San Diego next Tuesday.

They were arrested in Palmdale, east of Los Angeles, earlier this week.