MAJOR DRUG SUSPECTS HIT HARD BY MEXICO

Several Charges Filed Against Two Baja Figures In Custody

In a significant legal move against the Arellano Felix drug cartel, Mexican
prosecutors have filed new charges of drug trafficking and organized crime
against two alleged cartel leaders.

The charges resulted in the transfer of Jesus 'El Chuy' Labra, a Tijuana
businessman alleged to be the cartel's financial mastermind, from house
arrest in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood to the maximum security
Almoloya de Juarez prison outside the capital.

Labra joined Ismael Higuera Guerrero, described as the cartel's chief
lieutenant, who is already being held at the prison on a series of
drug-related charges.

The arrests of both men were considered major victories in the high-stakes
war against drug traffickers who operate along the U.S.-Mexico border. The
Arellano cartel, reputed to control drug trafficking in Baja California, is
described by authorities on both sides of the border as one of the most
violent and powerful drug organizations in Mexico.

The arrests now put to a test Mexico's criminal justice system as
prosecutors must build cases against the two men.

The additional charges reveal that Mexican authorities are serious about
prosecuting the reputed cartel members, said Gonzalo Curiel, chief of the
U.S. attorney's narcotics enforcement division in San Diego.

"It's a positive development," Curiel said. "It's not the last stage, but
we applaud the steps the Mexican government has taken."

It also shows that Mexican authorities are willing to cooperate with U.S.
authorities who are simultaneously seeking to break up the cartel, said
Vince Rice, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego.

"These guys were very close to the Arellanos," Rice said. "They weren't
just minor thugs. They were some of their right-hand men."

Labra was arrested March 11 in Tijuana as he watched his son play football.
Accused of illegal possession of a firearm, he was flown to Mexico City. A
judge there placed him under house arrest for three months, allowing
prosecutors to build a case for the more serious drug trafficking charges.

Days after Labra's arrest, the most visible member of his legal defense
team, Gustavo Galvez Reyes, was found tortured and killed.

In April, Mexican authorities discovered the bodies of three slain Mexican
federal agents who participated in tracking several reputed drug
traffickers, including Labra.

Higuera, who allegedly ran the cartel's day-to-day operations, was arrested
in Ensenada on May 3 when soldiers and federal agents raided a house on the
city's outskirts.

Higuera was first charged last month with smuggling cocaine into the United
States through secret airstrips in the state of Baja California Sur. He
also faces a homicide charge in a Baja California state court for his role
in the 1994 slaying of a federal police commander in Tijuana.

The federal Attorney General's Office in Mexico City announced the latest
charges yesterday, which include engaging in organized crime, drug
trafficking, the illegal exporting of cocaine and marijuana, the illegal
importing of cocaine, as well as contributing resources to finance,
supervise and encourage drug trafficking.

The two men were to make preliminary statements before a judge yesterday.
The judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to support the
charges, and if so, order them held for trial.

Because of the seriousness of the charges, neither suspect would be
eligible for bail if the judge upholds the charges. A trial could take at
least a year.

Higuera is described by U.S. authorities as second in command in the cartel
behind Benjamin Arellano. After Higuera's arrest, federal prosecutors in
San Diego unsealed an indictment against Higuera, accusing him of drug
trafficking and money laundering.

Higuera's name has surfaced in a string of San Diego federal cases
involving people accused of distributing and smuggling drugs on behalf of
the Arellano cartel. In those cases, he is described by U.S. informants as
one of the main contacts between lower level smugglers and the cartel.

U.S. prosecutors recently requested Higuera's extradition in connection
with the San Diego charges and plan to file documents in support of the
request within 60 days.

But according to the terms of a U.S.-Mexico extradition treaty, Higuera
will be prosecuted first in Mexico.

For years, the Arellano brothers have eluded authorities on both sides of
the border. A week after Higuera's arrest, prosecutors unveiled a sweeping
indictment accusing Benjamin Arellano and his brother, Ramon, of drug
trafficking and overseeing the cartel by using violence and paying bribes
to public officials.

U.S. officials said they unsealed the indictment in an effort to step up
the pursuit of the brothers.