CHARGES FILED AGAINST BAJA CARTEL FIGURE

TIJUANA -- A key figure in the notorious Arellano Felix drug cartel was
charged in a federal court this week with using secret airstrips to
transport cocaine into Mexico.

Ismael Higuera Guerrero is described as a chief lieutenant for the
Tijuana-based cartel, and is thought to have overseen the group's vast
transportation and storage networks. Soldiers and federal agents captured
him May 3 after a morning shootout at an Ensenada beachfront house.

The charges against Higuera, currently in a maximum security prison in
Mexico City, were the latest blow to the cartel, responsible for shipping
cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine to the United States.

The speed of the proceedings stands in sharp contrast to that of another
recently seized and presumed member of the cartel.

Federal police took Jesus Labra Aviles into custody on March 11 after
storming a Tijuana football field where he was watching a game. Labra is
believed to the financial brains of the organization, and a federal judge
has given prosecutors three months to collect evidence against him.

Labra remains under house arrest in Mexico City.

Victor Clark, head of the Binational Center for Human Rights in Tijuana,
said the delay in filing charges against Labra is due to the complicated
nature of the crimes that authorities attribute to Labra.

"It appears to be very hard to find charges against (Labra) at this time
because apparently he moved in the financial world," Clark said. "They have
to search archives, look for contacts and find evidence of money laundering
and other such crimes, and this is much more difficult to prove."

The federal charges against Higuera, filed in Mexico City, stem from the
capture of an airplane that was carrying 10 tons of cocaine in 1995. The
plane landed at a hidden airstrip in the southern part of Baja California.

Federal officials in Mexico City say additional charges may be filed
against Higuera, also known as "El Mayel," in Tijuana in connection with
the killing of a federal police agent, Alejandro Castenada Andrade, and
assaults against other members of the force.

Higuera may also face charges that could lead to life in prison in the
United States. A few days after his capture, U.S. officials unsealed a
federal indictment accusing him of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Mexican and U.S. officials hope the capture of these two important figures
will lead them to the Arellano Felix brothers. In a U.S. indictment
unsealed this week, prosecutors accused brothers Benjamn and Ramon Arellano
Felix of ordering murders and kidnappings throughout Mexico, and of at
least one attempted murder in the United States.

A reward of up to $2 million is being offered by U.S. officials for
information leading to the arrest and conviction of the brothers.