MEXICO MAY HAVE SEIZED DRUG GANG FIGURE -REPORTS

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico may have captured one of the masterminds of
the notorious Arellano Felix drug cartel in the northwestern state of Baja
California, two Mexican newspapers reported on Thursday.

The daily La Jornada, citing U.S. police, and the newspaper Reforma,
quoting an unnamed Mexican official, said Ismael ``El Mayel'' Higuerra
Guerrero may have been captured in an operation by Mexican armed forces on
Wednesday in the town of Ensenada.

Higuerra, an alleged senior lieutenant of the Arellano Felix, is believed
to have been arrested -- along with three men and one woman, all Colombian
- -- during the seizure of at least 220 pounds (100 kg) of cocaine at a home
near the Pacific coast, La Jornada reported.

At least 40 soldiers and other military officials were involved in the
operation, which prompted an exchange of gunfire, the paper added. Reforma
said the soldiers used tear gas when they stormed the house.

An official from Mexico's attorney general's office (PGR) told Reuters,
``For the moment, we don't have anything'' to say about the Higuerra arrest
reports.

The Tijuana-based Arellano Felix brothers -- Ramon Eduardo, Benjamin and
Javier -- are suspected of leading one of Latin America's most-feared and
bloodiest drug rings.

Authorities recently have stepped up their efforts against the group,
dealing it including the arrest of its alleged financial whiz Jesus ``El
Chuy'' Labra.

The cartel apparently has embarked on a retaliatory killing spree in recent
weeks. The cocaine ring is suspected in this month's murder of three
federal anti-drug agents and the assassination of at least two police
chiefs from the Mexican border city of Tijuana, among other crimes.

One of the Arellano Felix brothers, Ramon Eduardo, is on the U.S. FBI's
``Ten Most Wanted Fugitives'' list.