Pubdate: Sun, 09 Jul 2000
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Robert Caldwell, Insight Editor
Note: Part 5 of a 6 part special report on the Arellano Felix Cartel

HISTORY OF A BLOODY DRUG CARTEL

The Arellano brothers were nephews of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, a major 
drug trafficker operating from his base in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. In 
1989, Gallardo was imprisoned in Mexico for complicity in the 1985 
kidnapping, torture and murder of U.S. DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. 
When Gallardo went to prison, his drug-trafficking empire was divided 
between his lieutenants.

The Arellano brothers got the western part of Gallardo's territory and 
established their headquarters in Tijuana. That proved an ideal location 
from which to command the strategic "Plaza" and to monitor U.S. law 
enforcement, which the Arellanos regarded as the major threat to their 
operations.

The cartel was new but several of the Arellanos were already known to 
American law enforcement.

Benjamin Arellano Felix, his first wife, Maria Esperanza Arellano, and his 
brother Eduardo were arrested in Downey, Calif., on June 18, 1982 for 
possession of small quantities of cocaine. They were booked at the 
Montebello, Calif., Police Department and charged with violating California 
narcotics law. Despite evidence that they were involved in drug 
trafficking, charges against the Arellanos were dropped. Police may have 
been protecting information or the identity of an informant in a more 
important case.

In 1989, Benjamin was indicted in absentia by a federal grand jury in San 
Diego on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, racketeering and 
operating a continuing criminal enterprise. A federal arrest warrant for 
Benjamin has been on file since then.

On Nov. 16, 1999, Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Felix were secretly indicted 
by a federal grand jury in San Diego. They were charged with 10 counts of 
drug trafficking, money laundering and promoting crimes of violence. The 
indictments were unsealed in U.S. District Court here May 11.

Francisco Arellano Felix also has a record in the United States. He was 
arrested in San Diego on Aug. 7, 1980, after delivering 205 grams of 
cocaine to an undercover U.S. agent. Francisco jumped bail and fled to 
Mexico. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Francisco in 1980 and 
pending federal charges include conspiracy to distribute narcotics, 
possession of narcotics and bail jumping.

Francisco has been jailed in Mexico since 1993 for violations of weapons laws.

U.S. law enforcement sources and court documents provide the following 
broad outlines of the Arellano Felix cartel's operations and command structure:

Benjamin is the cartel's acknowledged leader. He makes all major decisions. 
His principal lieutenants currently are his younger brother Ramon and 
Manuel Aguirre Galindo. Gilberto Higuera Guerrero is ranked in a secondary 
leadership role.

Ramon, who has a reputation for both violence and fast living, allegedly is 
the Arellano's chief enforcer. He reportedly commands the cartel's numerous 
hired assassins and its large contingents of heavily armed security men.

Aguirre reportedly is a drug trafficker and money launderer. Gilberto 
Higuera was deputy to his brother, Ismael Higuera Guerrero, who was the 
cartel's operations director until his arrest by an elite force of Mexican 
soldiers and police on May 3. Gilberto presumably inherited some but not 
all of his brother's operational responsibilities.

By all accounts, the recent arrests of Ismael Higuera and the cartel's 
alleged financial mastermind, Jesus "Chuy" Labra Aviles, by Mexican police 
and security forces were the first serious setbacks dealt the cartel in 
years. Mexico' s Attorney General Jorge Madrazo and chief anti-narcotics 
official, Mariano Herran, describe these dramatic actions as part of an 
all-out offensive against the Arellanos.

While the results so far are gratifying, the cartel won't be taken down 
until Benjamin, Ramon and other family members are apprehended, tried and 
convicted, and imprisoned. Despite the increased pressure on the Arellanos 
in recent months, there is no evidence of any diminution in the flow of 
their cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine through the Plaza and 
into the United States.

Despite the best efforts of U.S. law enforcement, and whatever help can be 
obtained from Mexico, most of the dope still gets through. The drugs go 
north, the money goes south. The Arellanos remain very much in business. 
Their criminal empire survives. How long it survives depends on whether the 
governments on both sides of the border learn from their past failures and 
then summon the will to act decisively.

The U.S. Customs Service's Ed Logan argues for cautious optimism in the 
fight against the Arellanos. Logan cites two hard-won victories in 
Colombia's bloody drug war:

"Pablo Escobar is dead, the Cali mafia is down. I think the AFO will go 
down, too, eventually. Only they know what their exit strategy is.

"The (Mexicans') arrests of Labra and Ismael Higuera are brave acts we 
didn't think we would see. That's momentum. Let's let it play out."
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