MEXICAN DRUG LORD REELED IN WHILE DEEP-SEA FISHING

WASHINGTON -- The Coast Guard caught Mexican drug lord Francisco
Javier Arellano Felix deep-sea fishing off Mexico, decapitating a
murderous cartel that dug smuggling tunnels under the U.S. border,
authorities said Wednesday.

Arellano Felix, 36, was captured when the crew of the Coast Guard
cutter Monsoon boarded a U.S.-registered sport-fishing boat at 9 a.m.
local time Monday about 15 miles off the coast of Baja California,
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen told a news conference.

"We've taken the head off the snake," said Michael Braun, chief of
operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA agents
discovered Arellano Felix's fishing plans and asked the Coast Guard to
seize the boat in international waters.

"This is a huge blow" to one of the three largest Mexican drug
cartels, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said. However, he added,
"much more remains to be done."

Braun said, "We're piling on this organization because they are
extremely vulnerable right now."

The cartel was once led by seven brothers and four sisters, but Braun
noted that Javier's brother Ramon was killed in a shootout with police
in 2002, his brother Benjamin is in a Mexican prison and brother
Eduardo, although at large in Mexico, is not considered "capable of
leading the organization at this time."

"That's not to say that there aren't one or more others capable of
stepping up and running it," Braun said.

The cutter is towing the fishing boat, the Dock Holiday, back to San
Diego, where DEA agents will arrest Arellano Felix and others among
the eight adults and three juveniles who were captured on board.

Authorities anticipated announcing additional charges against the
group in San Diego today.

Arellano Felix is wanted in both the United States and Mexico for his
role as leader of the violent and sophisticated Tijuana-based Arellano
Felix gang, which McNulty said was blamed in a 2003 U.S. indictment
for 20 murders in the U.S. and Mexico.

One law enforcement official said two suspected assassins for the
Arellano Felix cartel were among those aboard the Dock Holiday. He
requested anonymity because he was speaking before the list of
passengers was released officially.

The Arellano Felix gang, along with the Gulf Cartel and the
Federacion, are the largest Mexican drug cartels.

The Arellano Felix gang is believed to be responsible for the massive
drug tunnels discovered in January at the U.S.-Mexico border.