Pubdate: Mon, 11 Mar 2002
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2002 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sltrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383
Author: Kevin G. Hall (Knight Ridder News Service)

STAKES UP IN DRUG WAR

MEXICO CITY -- The weekend arrest of the most-wanted drug lord in both 
Mexico and the United States is prompting fears of bloody turf wars along 
the border as rivals try to muscle their way into the multibillion-dollar 
business long controlled by the Tijuana cartel.

Heavily armed soldiers surprised Benjamin Arellano Felix overnight Saturday 
at a posh home in Puebla, taking the alleged kingpin into custody without 
firing a shot.

His capture and the confirmed death of his brother Ramon, the family's 
enforcer, are expected to cripple the cartel and spark bloodshed among 
rivals at major border crossings such as Tijuana-San Diego and Ciudad 
Juarez-El Paso, Texas.

"Most analysts are worried there could be an increased level of violence 
among the organizations that are trying to establish new routes and new 
trafficking regions," said Ana Maria Salazar, a former official in the 
Clinton White House and professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute 
of Mexico.

Several months of violence are expected on both sides of the border until a 
new dominant group emerges.

Law enforcement experts in Mexico and the United States expect Eduardo and 
Javier Arellano Felix to make a bid to save the cartel that law enforcement 
officials say was run by their brother. Gunning for their territory will be 
Ismael Zampada, a rival drug lord whom Ramon Arellano Felix was reportedly 
hunting when he was killed Feb. 10 in Mazatlan.

For the past decade, the Arellano Felix family has used violence to keep a 
strong grip on drug smuggling into California and Arizona for distribution 
across the United States. The Tijuana cartel may be responsible for moving 
from one-third to 40 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States, 
the DEA has estimated.

The cartel is believed to be behind at least 300 killings in Mexico over 
the past decade and was said to have bribed and threatened its way into the 
highest corridors of power. Benjamin Arellano Felix reportedly approached 
politicians and judges with a no-win choice: accept our money or be killed.

Given the cartel's high-level connections, the arrest of Benjamin Arellano 
Felix could eventually shed light on some of Mexico's darkest secrets.

Mystery still shrouds the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis 
Donaldo Colosio, who was gunned down while campaigning in Tijuana, the 
family's home turf. The cartel is believed to have been involved in the 
1993 murder of Mexican Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo at the 
Guadalajara airport.

"I imagine that there are a number of Mexican officials and former Mexican 
officials who are probably having difficulty sleeping at night right now 
because this guy has been arrested and [because of] what he knows," Salazar 
said.
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