SUSPECT'S ARREST SEEN AS PIVOTAL IN MEXICO'S DRUG WAR

CRIME: Jesus Labra, apprehended at his son's school football game, is
reputed to be a leader of the Arellano Felix ring.

TIJUANA, Mexico - The youth football game had paused for half time when
police and soldiers armed with submachine guns charged in and captured one
of Mexico's most wanted men: Jesus Labra, allegedly a leader of the
notorious Arellano Felix drug organization.

At least 30 men in civilian clothes burst onto school grounds Saturday as a
game involving Labra's son was in progress. Witnesses said spectators
screamed, wept and flung themselves to the ground as the raid occurred and
Labra was hauled off.

It appeared to be one of the most important anti-narcotics arrests in
recent years in Mexico and one of the biggest blows to the Arellano Felix
gang. U.S. politicians and officials have long criticized Mexico's failure
to crack down on the group, one of Mexico's most violent.

Labra, believed to be about 50, was a prominent and visible owner of hotels
and restaurants in Tijuana a decade ago before rumors linking him to the
Arellano Felix brothers arose and he began to drop out of public view.

In a recent profile, the Mexico City daily Reforma said Labra was married
to an aunt of the brothers. It said he had been a key figure in the gang
since it began to take over narcotics trafficking in the area at the start
of the 1990s.

Last year, the newspaper said some investigators believed Labra had become
the key figure in the organization, though attention has continued to focus
on brothers Ramon, Francisco Javier and Benjmain.

Labra's attorney, Gustavo Galvez Reyes, told reporters in Tijuana that
Labra was not involved in drugs and was merely a successful businessman.

Galvez accused officials of arresting his client without a warrant and of
keeping him incommunicado afterward. He said U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration agents participated in the arrest in violation of Mexico's
constitution.

By Sunday afternoon, Mexican officials had not commented on the arrest, and
a DEA spokesman in Washington said he had no information about it.

"I can say that it is something that we are aware of ... based on news
accounts that we have seen," spokesman Terry Parham said. He said he could
not confirm any elements of the accounts.

The Arellano Felix gang is considered by the DEA to be one of the largest
and most violent in Mexico, blamed for numerous assassinations of police,
prosecutors, judges and rivals in the drug trade. The brother who allegedly
heads the group's enforcement arm, Ramon, is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted
list. Federal authorities have offered a $2 million reward for information
leading to his arrest.

Mexican prosecutors say the group's victims include the late Roman Catholic
Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who was killed in a fusillade of
bullets at the Guadalajara airport in 1993.