261 ARRESTS TARGET MEXICO DRUG CARTEL

WASHINGTON--Federal agents have arrested 261 people in connection with a
Mexico-based drug trafficking cartel responsible for putting millions of
dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana on the streets of 16 U.S. cities,
government officials said Wednesday.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, working with agents of the FBI and
Customs Service and assisted by local law enforcement, made 76 of the
arrests in the early morning hours Wednesday in more than a dozen
cities, adding to 185 arrests made previously.

Joseph Keefe, the DEA's chief of operations, said the bust, code-named
Operation Marquis, has crippled a narcotics smuggling operation run by
the brother of drug lord Amado Carillo-Fuentes, who died in 1997 after
botched facial surgery to change his appearance.

Vincente Carrillo-Fuentes, Jose Albino Quintero-Meraz and alleged drug
kingpin Alcides Ramon Magana, who were arrested in the Gulf Coast state
of Tabasco earlier this month, are central players in the smuggling
ring, Keefe said.

Magana's arrest, together with Wednesday's busts, was a significant blow
to Mexican drug cartels and highlights growing cross-border cooperation
between the United States and Mexico in arresting traffickers,
authorities said.

Keefe called the bust one of the largest of its kind in recent years.
Suspected "cell" members of the cartel were arrested in cities as far
apart as Baltimore, St. Louis and Houston. No arrests have been made in
California.

"We have disrupted their organization and made it much more difficult
for them to function in the United States," he said.

Over 18 months, Operation Marquis agents have seized nearly 19,800
pounds of cocaine, more than 27,000 pounds of marijuana and $12.5
million in U.S. currency.

Provisional arrest warrants naming 14 suspects in Mexico were being
submitted to Mexican authorities under a new information-sharing
agreement with the government of President Vicente Fox. U.S. prosecutors
will request the extradition of these suspects once they are caught,
officials said.

U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft termed the operation "an excellent example
of what can be done when we work together with our law enforcement
counterparts in Mexico." He said the arrests should "send a clear
message to criminals on both sides of our border."

The cartel allegedly moved large quantities of cocaine and marijuana
from Colombia to warehouses in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on the U.S. border.
The organization transported most drugs to U.S. cities in
tractor-trailers, with the narcotics concealed by loads of fresh
produce. Smaller quantities often were carried in concealed compartments
of automobiles, officials said.