MEXICO REPORTEDLY ARRESTS LEADER OF GULF CARTEL

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico has arrested the man suspected of leading the
Gulf Cartel, a newspaper reported Sunday. Authorities would not confirm the
report.

According to the newspaper Reforma, agents of the federal attorney general's
office arrested Salvador Gomez, known as ``El Chava,'' early Friday morning
in Matamoros, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Reforma cited a source in a federal law enforcement agency that it didn't name.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office said there had been no
announcement of any such arrest and that no one was immediately available to
comment on the report.

According to the newspaper report, Gomez was accompanied by one of his
lieutenants and a federal highway policemen. They were also arrested, and
the three were flown to Mexico City, Reforma said.

It said large weapons, $15,000 and 10,000 pesos -- worth $1,150 -- were
seized from the men.

Gomez, a former policeman, is reported to head the Gulf Cartel, based in
Matamoros, having risen from the ranks and assumed leadership in 1997 by
shooting his strongest rival in the face.

The competition occurred after former cartel boss Juan Garcia Abrego was
captured in 1996 and deported to the United States. He was sentenced to life
in prison for smuggling 15 tons of cocaine into the United States.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett