COASTAL DRUG KINGPIN EYES TIJUANA TURF

With Arellano Felix Cartel Crippled, Officials Say Ismael Zambada May Be
Poised To Fill The Void.

MEXICO CITY -- If there is one man likely to fill the power vacuum that the
crippling of the Arellano Felix cartel has created in the
multibillion-dollar drug-trafficking trade, it is Ismael Zambada.

A growing force in drug smuggling in northwestern Mexico, Zambada is the
man Ramon Arellano Felix was thought to be gunning for when he himself was
shot by police Feb. 10 in Mazatlan. The two were said to be sworn enemies,
with Arellano Felix claiming Zambada had dodged a $20-million debt.

Zambada, from Sinaloa state, has been trying to break the Arellano Felix
gang's iron grip on the Baja California "plaza," or turf, for years.
Mexican authorities believe he was responsible for the February 2000
killing of Tijuana's police chief, Alfredo de la Torre. "If you just look
at geography, Zambada is in a position to benefit most from a weakened
Arellano Felix organization," said Don Robinson, an FBI agent in San Diego.
Zambada's operation is based in Culiacan and Mazatlan in Sinaloa state,
across the Gulf of California from Baja.

The 53-year-old drug kingpin, nicknamed "El Mayo," was long considered a
second-tier enforcer in the so-called Juarez cartel run by Amado Carrillo
Fuentes. But since Carrillo Fuentes' death while undergoing plastic surgery
in 1997, that cartel has splintered and Zambada's power has grown, U.S. law
enforcement sources say.

The March 9 arrest of Benjamin Arellano Felix and the death of his brother
Ramon leaves their Tijuana cartel--once considered
"untouchable"--vulnerable to a challenge. Law enforcement officials on both
sides of the border expect a bloody struggle for power to erupt in coming
weeks.

Zambada is not the only pretender to the Arellano Felix domain. Osiel
Cardenas, head of the Gulf cartel based in Tamaulipas state, is thought by
U.S. drug investigators to be poised for a run at the Tijuana cartel's
turf, through which a quarter of all the cocaine consumed in the United
States is shipped. The Baja California-San Diego County smuggling franchise
is highly coveted by drug runners because of its dense population of
potential consumers on both sides of the border and the high volume of
cross-border traffic into which smugglers can blend.

A key part of the franchise is the Arellano Felix wholesaling operation in
Los Angeles, where drugs are stockpiled at safe houses for distribution
around the United States, officials say.

Other drug gangs have wanted a piece of the Tijuana cartel's turf for
years. But the Arellano Felix brothers insisted on high transshipment fees
for the right to use their turf, and they wiped out anyone who tried to
encroach on it without paying.

Zambada's relationship with the Arellano Felixes was once cordial, U.S.
sources say. In fact, Zambada is known for his ability to forge alliances
among competing cartels. But the Arellano Felixes had no interest in
cooperating or sharing.

"Zambada knows how to win friends and influence people. Keep in mind he has
30 years in the business, and a lot of that has to do with his ability to
communicate and broker deals that are beneficial to both sides," said one
law enforcement official, who asked that his name not be used.

Zambada is thought to be on friendly terms with both Vicente Carrillo
Fuentes, Amado's brother, and Juan Jose Esparragoza, two figures vying for
control of the Juarez gang. But Zambada can be ruthless.

Investigators probing the shooting of the Tijuana police chief said
suspects in the case have told them that Zambada ordered the killing and
had put out other hits designed to wreak havoc in the Arellano Felix
organization.

Zambada has been wanted by Mexico's attorney general's office since 1998,
when it put bounties totaling $2.8 million on him and five other leaders in
the Juarez cartel.

Evidence against Zambada came from disgraced army general Jose de Jesus
Gutierrez Rebollo, who was charged in 1997 with taking bribes from the
Juarez cartel in exchange for protection. The general was then Mexico's
anti-drug czar.

"Zambada learned early on how to hitch his wagon to other bigger
organizations, and this has given him entree," said the U.S. law
enforcement official, who added that Zambada has cooperated with another
Sinaloa drug cartel operated by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Hector Luis
"El Guero" Palma.

But the Arellano Felix gang always insisted on monopoly control of its
turf, which stretches from Tijuana to the Baja California border with
Sonora state.

Walter W. Collette, special agent in charge of U.S. customs in San Diego,
thinks that the Arellano Felix cartel is entrenched and that talk of its
demise is premature.

"This will be a minor hiccup in their operations, a little blip, and then
it's back to normal," said Collette, noting that 3,900 couriers were
arrested in 2001 attempting to smuggle drugs into the United States.

But the FBI's Robinson said law enforcement officials on both sides of the
border are waiting for the turf wars to begin. "Who will challenge for this
territory? Zambada is certainly on everyone's short list of contenders," he
said.