HISTORY OF A BLOODY DRUG CARTEL

The Arellano brothers were nephews of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, a major
drug trafficker operating from his base in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. In
1989, Gallardo was imprisoned in Mexico for complicity in the 1985
kidnapping, torture and murder of U.S. DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena.
When Gallardo went to prison, his drug-trafficking empire was divided
between his lieutenants.

The Arellano brothers got the western part of Gallardo's territory and
established their headquarters in Tijuana. That proved an ideal location
from which to command the strategic "Plaza" and to monitor U.S. law
enforcement, which the Arellanos regarded as the major threat to their
operations.

The cartel was new but several of the Arellanos were already known to
American law enforcement.

Benjamin Arellano Felix, his first wife, Maria Esperanza Arellano, and his
brother Eduardo were arrested in Downey, Calif., on June 18, 1982 for
possession of small quantities of cocaine. They were booked at the
Montebello, Calif., Police Department and charged with violating California
narcotics law. Despite evidence that they were involved in drug
trafficking, charges against the Arellanos were dropped. Police may have
been protecting information or the identity of an informant in a more
important case.

In 1989, Benjamin was indicted in absentia by a federal grand jury in San
Diego on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, racketeering and
operating a continuing criminal enterprise. A federal arrest warrant for
Benjamin has been on file since then.

On Nov. 16, 1999, Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Felix were secretly indicted
by a federal grand jury in San Diego. They were charged with 10 counts of
drug trafficking, money laundering and promoting crimes of violence. The
indictments were unsealed in U.S. District Court here May 11.

Francisco Arellano Felix also has a record in the United States. He was
arrested in San Diego on Aug. 7, 1980, after delivering 205 grams of
cocaine to an undercover U.S. agent. Francisco jumped bail and fled to
Mexico. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Francisco in 1980 and
pending federal charges include conspiracy to distribute narcotics,
possession of narcotics and bail jumping.

Francisco has been jailed in Mexico since 1993 for violations of weapons laws.

U.S. law enforcement sources and court documents provide the following
broad outlines of the Arellano Felix cartel's operations and command structure:

Benjamin is the cartel's acknowledged leader. He makes all major decisions.
His principal lieutenants currently are his younger brother Ramon and
Manuel Aguirre Galindo. Gilberto Higuera Guerrero is ranked in a secondary
leadership role.

Ramon, who has a reputation for both violence and fast living, allegedly is
the Arellano's chief enforcer. He reportedly commands the cartel's numerous
hired assassins and its large contingents of heavily armed security men.

Aguirre reportedly is a drug trafficker and money launderer. Gilberto
Higuera was deputy to his brother, Ismael Higuera Guerrero, who was the
cartel's operations director until his arrest by an elite force of Mexican
soldiers and police on May 3. Gilberto presumably inherited some but not
all of his brother's operational responsibilities.

By all accounts, the recent arrests of Ismael Higuera and the cartel's
alleged financial mastermind, Jesus "Chuy" Labra Aviles, by Mexican police
and security forces were the first serious setbacks dealt the cartel in
years. Mexico' s Attorney General Jorge Madrazo and chief anti-narcotics
official, Mariano Herran, describe these dramatic actions as part of an
all-out offensive against the Arellanos.

While the results so far are gratifying, the cartel won't be taken down
until Benjamin, Ramon and other family members are apprehended, tried and
convicted, and imprisoned. Despite the increased pressure on the Arellanos
in recent months, there is no evidence of any diminution in the flow of
their cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine through the Plaza and
into the United States.

Despite the best efforts of U.S. law enforcement, and whatever help can be
obtained from Mexico, most of the dope still gets through. The drugs go
north, the money goes south. The Arellanos remain very much in business.
Their criminal empire survives. How long it survives depends on whether the
governments on both sides of the border learn from their past failures and
then summon the will to act decisively.

The U.S. Customs Service's Ed Logan argues for cautious optimism in the
fight against the Arellanos. Logan cites two hard-won victories in
Colombia's bloody drug war:

"Pablo Escobar is dead, the Cali mafia is down. I think the AFO will go
down, too, eventually. Only they know what their exit strategy is.

"The (Mexicans') arrests of Labra and Ismael Higuera are brave acts we
didn't think we would see. That's momentum. Let's let it play out."