U.S. OFFICIALS ARREST SUSPECT IN TOP MEXICAN DRUG GANG

LOS ANGELES - Federal drug enforcement agents, aided by the United
States Coast Guard, arrested a man they said was a top figure in one
of Mexico's most notorious drug gangs on a fishing boat off Baja
California on Wednesday.

Federal officials said the man, Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, 37,
was one of the last remaining ring leaders of the Arellano Felix gang.
The group, based in Tijuana, is charged in several killings, including
that of a Roman Catholic cardinal.

In a federal indictment unsealed in 2003, Mr. Arellano Felix was
charged with importing and distributing drugs in the United States.
The arrest on Wednesday riveted Mexico, a nation long weary of
intransigent drug violence. It was expected to deal a blow to the
gang, though the authorities acknowledged that associates were
probably waiting to take Mr. Arellano Felix's place.

Michael Braun, an assistant administrator for the Drug Enforcement
Administration, said at a news conference in Washington that Mr.
Arellano Felix was "one of the 45 most notorious, most wanted drug
traffickers in the world."

The power of the Arellano Felix gang -- a family cartel that was the
model for the one in the film "Traffic" -- has waned since its two most
powerful brothers were removed, one imprisoned and one killed. At the
same time, smaller, more efficient gangs have risen around Mexico.

Many experts on drug cartels viewed Mr. Arellano Felix as far from
competent. Nonetheless, his arrest was seen as a symbolic victory for
officials in Mexico and the United States, who have been working
together to stem the escalating gang violence in Mexico, and it was
viewed by some experts as important because of the cartel's infamy.

"His arrest is significant because it shows that the organization
continues to operate in Tijuana," said Bruce M. Bagley, the chairman
of international studies at the University of Miami.

Mr. Arellano Felix's arrest stemmed from a 14-month investigation, the
authorities said. He was among eight adults -- two of whom officials
described as suspected assassins -- and three children seen aboard the
fishing boat Dock Holiday on Monday near the Baja California coast.
The Drug Enforcement Administration asked the Coast Guard to stop the
boat, and Mr. Arellano Felix was taken into custody. He now awaits
indictment in San Diego.

The arrest was major news in Mexico, where a war among rival drug
cartels over the last two years has left hundreds dead and terrorized
towns across the country.

Mexican law enforcement officials say they have dealt serious blows to
the Arellano Felix gang in recent years. But federal agents in Mexico
have been unable to dismantle the cartel on its home turf in Tijuana,
one of the world's busiest border crossings. The gang is believed to
be behind several smuggling tunnels found in recent years, including a
huge tunnel uncovered in a warehouse in San Diego in January.

The organization suffered a major setback in 2002, when the two
brothers who led it were taken out of action. In February, Ramon
Arellano Felix, the brawn of the operation, was killed in a shootout
with the police in Mazatlan. A month later, his brother Benjamin, said
to be the mastermind of the outfit, was arrested and sent to a
maximum-security prison near Mexico City.

Law enforcement officials say Benjamin Arellano Felix has continued to
direct the organization from prison and has forged an alliance with
Osiel Cardenas, the leader of the rival Gulf Cartel, who is in the
same prison.

Together the two gang leaders have been battling a loose confederation
of drug dealers who control the border crossing at Ciudad Juarez for
control of Mexico's lucrative cocaine, heroin and marijuana trade.

"This murderous conflict between these two crime rings that are on the
rise have cut the Arellano Felix group down to size in the wake of the
busts of the two older brothers," said Professor Bagley, an expert on
drug trading.

Francisco Javier Arellano Felix is believed by some American officials
to have taken over the reins of the Tijuana cartel in 2002,
transmitting instructions from his jailed brother, Benjamin. Among
other crimes, he is under indictment in Mexico for conspiring to
murder Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo in 1993.

But some Mexican officials and independent analysts say another
brother, Eduardo, a medical student, and a sister, Enedina, are more
important to the operation, overseeing its finances.

"Javier was not an important capo," said Jesus Blancornelas, the
editor of Zeta, a Tijuana magazine, who has devoted his life to
writing about the cartels. "He's a member of the family, nothing more,
dedicated to partying. I'd call him a playboy."