Most brothers have been either killed or arrested, leaving the cartel in tatters while rivals rose in prominence.
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 jail after confessing to selling drugs to an undercover agent.
He was released in 2008, winning time off his sentence for good behaviour, and repatriated to Mexico, according to his attorney at the time.
Another brother, Ramon, was killed in a police 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.
-AAP