U.S. CHARGES EXPECTED AGAINST MEXICAN DRUG FIGURE

SAN DIEGO--Heartened by the arrest in Mexico this week of the
suspected manager of Tijuana's infamous drug cartel, U.S. officials
are expected to roll out drug charges in coming days against another
leader of the Arellano Felix cartel.

A federal official said Friday that the focus of the new U.S. charges
is Benjamin Arellano, described by investigators as the cartel's
primary commander. Benjamin Arellano has not previously been publicly
charged by the U.S. government, although his brother, Ramon, was
indicted in 1997 for drug conspiracy and remains on the FBI's Ten Most
Wanted list. The U.S. government has offered a $2-million reward for
information leading to the arrest of Ramon Arellano, viewed as the
gang's enforcer.

Authorities plan to announce a stepped-up search for Ramon Arellano on
the theory that he might try to flee across the border into the United
States to escape what appears to be a newly aggressive offensive
against cartel leaders by the Mexican military.

"Now's the time when I wouldn't be surprised if Ramon is up here
someplace--in L.A. or somewhere else," the official said. "We're going
to closely watch the border."

U.S. authorities cheered the capture Wednesday of Ismael Higuera
Guerrero, reputed to be the manager of daily drug trafficking for the
cartel, which is seen by many as the most violent and powerful in
Mexico. Higuera, who was rounded up along with his 15-year-old son and
eight other people during a raid by Mexican soldiers and federal
agents in Ensenada, faces murder and drug charges in Mexico. He is
being held in a maximum-security prison outside Mexico City. The
charges carry a possible sentence of 40 years.

"Finally [Mexican officials] feel like we can go to war with these
guys and take them down," said Vince Rice, a spokesman for the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego. "This is going to start
dismantling the organization."

The Higuera arrest came two months after another reputed cartel boss,
Jesus Labra Aviles, was snared by Mexican soldiers as he watched a
youth football game at a Tijuana school. The back-to-back arrests have
encouraged officials in the United States who have grumbled privately
that Mexico seemed to be doing little to smash the cartel, which they
say dominates smuggling of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines
into the western United States.

It may be many years before Higuera is eligible to face newly unsealed
accusations in the United States that he ran a criminal enterprise and
conspired to smuggle and distribute cocaine and to launder money. The
combined charges carry a possible maximum prison sentence of 80 years
and a $10.5-million fine.

The year-old indictment was kept under wraps until Thursday, after
Higuera's arrest. But under treaties between the two countries,
Higuera must first be prosecuted in Mexico before U.S. authorities
could have him extradited.

"At this point, we wouldn't be able to, under the extradition treaty.
We wouldn't have priority," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Gonzalo Curiel,
a federal drug prosecutor in San Diego.

Other officials said the capture of Higuera, believed to be
responsible for paying off corrupt police to protect cartel figures,
may aid U.S. investigators by flushing other gang leaders from hiding.