MEXICAN ANTI DRUG OFFENSIVE CAPTURES ALLEGED CARTEL LEADER

MEXICO CITY Mexican soldiers detained an alleged leader of a Western
Mexican drug cartel, the first major arrest since President Felipe Calderon
sent more than 6,000 troops to restore order in a state terrorized by drug,
gangs, the military announced Sunday.

Elias Valencia, one of the alleged heads of the Valencia Cartel, was
arrested with four others in a mountain ranch near the town on Aguililla on
Friday, said Gen. Cornelio Casio, one of several officials in charge of the
new anti drug offensive.

Last week, Calderon sent a force of soldiers, marines and federal police to
his native Michoacan state which has been plagued by a wave of execution
style killings and beheadings.

The violence stems from a turf war between the Valencia and rival Gulf
Cartel over lucrative marijuana plantations and smuggling routes for
cocaine and methamphetamine the United States.

Mexican investigators allege Elias Valencia is one of several figures
running the cartel since his father Armando Valencia was arrested in 2003.

Elias Valencia and the others were caught by soldiers with several hundred
kilos of marijuana and arsenal of firearms, Gen. Casio said. They attempted
to flee from the troops but were captured without offering resistance he said.

Aguililla, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Michoacan state
capital Morelia has been a key stronghold of Los Valencia. The winding
mountain roads into town make perfect terrain for ambushes and assailants
killed 10 police in two recent attacks on nearby highways.

Under the new offensive, soldiers supported by armored vehicles with
machine-gun turrets and helicopters have combed the area looking for wanted
traffickers and drug plantations.

On Wednesday, troops clashed with alleged traffickers protecting a
marijuana plantation killing one man and arresting another.

Calderon narrowly won the July election on a law and order platform and has
vowed to stop the drug violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives this
year.

As well as sending the troops to Michoacan he has ordered to step up
attacks on traffickers across the nation.

On Saturday, soldiers raided a house in the western city of Guadalajara
arresting Jesus Raul Beltran, an alleged key lieutenant in the Sinaloa
cartel. Beltran attempted to bribe the troops by offering them a million
dollars for his release, the Defense Department said in a news release.

But many security experts say it will take more than brute force stop the
cartels, who get billions of dollars (euros) from U.S. drug users.

President Vicente Fox, who stepped down on Dec. 1, sent thousands of troops
to battle traffickers, accelerated drug seizures, and arrested several high
profile traffickers without making much of a dent on the quantity of
narcotics crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Valencia cartel is also alleged to have members selling narcotics in
the southern United States. Following the 2003 arrest of Armando Valencia,
U.S. police detained more than 50 people in Georgia, Tennessee and Texas
for allegedly distributing his drugs.