THE CARTEL: A SPECIAL REPORT

Introduction

Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo describes narcotics trafficking as the
greatest threat to Mexico' s national security. A report produced by his
own government warned that increasingly powerful drug cartels threaten
Mexico' s political stability and, if left unchecked, could render Mexico
ungovernable.

Something close to that is already happening a mere 20 miles from downtown
San Diego, just across the border in Tijuana: Two police chiefs
assassinated by drug traffickers in six years, dozens of prosecutors and
police investigators killed and a murder rate at least seven times that of
San Diego.

For the past decade, the Arellano Felix Organization, the most violent drug
cartel in Mexico, has waged this deadly war against the rule of law. The
cartel has proved itself stronger than the Mexican government in the
Tijuana-Mexicali-Ensenada triangle that is the Arellanos' base territory.

Mexican officials estimate that the Tijuana cartel provides at least 15
percent of the entire U.S. cocaine supply, a share representing 45 tons or
more of cocaine a year. That' s nearly a ton of cocaine every week shoved
across our borders by the Arellano organization.

The effects of that are felt not just in San Diego, but across the United
States.

The federal government reports that nearly 14 million Americans use illegal
drugs regularly, including more than 300 metric tons of cocaine each year.
Drug-related illness, death and crime cost the United States about $110
billion every year. Drug abuse kills some 52,000 Americans a year -- nearly
the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam war.

This is more than a law enforcement problem. Vital national security
interests in Mexico and, hence, in the United States are at risk.

This special edition of Insight examines the Arellano Felix Organization,
the decade-long failure to shut it down, and what its defeat would require.