GODFATHER OF MEXICAN DRUG TRAFFICKING GETS SECOND PRISON TERM

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The godfather of Mexican drug trafficking, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, has received a second 40-year prison sentence for smuggling and bribery. Another major trafficking suspect has been ordered held for trial.

Felix Gallardo, whose drug organization spawned two of Mexico's most notorious narcotics cartels following his 1989 arrest, is one of the most significant drug traffickers ever captured in Mexico.

In a separate case, the federal attorney general's office said Friday that Juan Jose Quintero Payan, suspected of playing a major role in the Juarez drug cartel, had been ordered held for trial on drug charges.

U.S. officials in the late 1980s said Felix Gallardo was responsible for more than half the cocaine smuggled through Mexico.

He was already serving a 40-year sentence for complicity in the 1985 murder of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena and for drug offenses. He was being held at Mexico's most secure prison in Almoloya, west of Mexico City.

In a news release late Thursday, the attorney general's office said that a Mexico City court had sentenced Felix Gallardo for possessing and smuggling cocaine, bribery and weapons violations.

The charges stemmed from Mexico's 1985 seizure of a U.S.-registered Turbocommander business plane in which cocaine residues had been found.

Investigators discovered that Felix Gallardo had created an air taxi service based in Guadalajara to help smuggle drugs, according to the attorney general's office.

Felix Gallardo's attorneys had struggled for more than a decade to block the decision with a stream of legal motions.

The newspaper Reforma reported Friday that Judge Manuel Barcena said Felix Gallardo's separate crimes would have led to a 69-year sentence, but 40 years is the maximum allowed by law.

Felix Gallardo, born in 1946, is a former Sinaloa state policeman who rose to become leader of the Guadalajara Cartel and was a pioneer in using Mexico as a large-scale route for Colombian cocaine.

In 1989, Attorney General Enrique Alvarez del Castillo called him "the No. 1 drug trafficker in Mexico" and Felix Gallardo was often referred to as "El Padrino" -- "The Godfather."

Felix Gallardo was famed for his close relations with politicians and massive bribes to police. When federal officials finally moved against him in 1989, they arrested the entire Culiacan police force for 24 hours-- apparently to avoid interference in the arrest.

The city police chief and the top state anti-narcotics officer were arrested on charges of collusion with Felix Gallardo.

Officials estimated his worth at $500 million, much of it invested in apparently legitimate businesses.

After his arrest, the cartel split. One branch based in Sinaloa state was led by Hector Palma Salazar and Joaquin Guzman Loera, both now in prison. Another, led by his nephews, is the violent Arellano Felix gang based in Tijuana.

Quintero Payan, 58, is the uncle of another leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, Rafael Caro Quintero, who is also serving a 40-year sentence for the slaying of Camarena.

The attorney general's office said a Mexico City judge had ordered Quintero Payan tried on charges of organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons violations.

He was arrested last year in Guadalajara. Mexican and U.S. officials described him as an important figure in the Juarez-based drug organization led by Amado Carillo Fuentes until his death in 1997.