MEXICO DECLARES WAR ON DRUG CARTEL

Narcotics: Authorities announce use of warrants, big rewards in drive to
break up Juarez group.

MEXICO CITY--Officials on Monday announced an offensive to dismantle one of
Mexico's main drug-trafficking groups--the Juarez cartel--including dozens
of arrest warrants and an offer of big rewards for information leading to
the capture of its alleged ringleaders.

Authorities said they were using the powers of a new organized-crime law to
take on the group, which was headed by Amado Carrillo Fuentes until his
death last summer after plastic surgery.

The announcement came as some members of the U.S. Congress are trying to
strip Mexico of its annual "certification" as a partner in the anti-drug
fight. Critics such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) complain that
Mexico has made little progress in fighting the groups that transport the
majority of the cocaine entering the United States.

A "decertification" would poison relations between the neighbors and could
result in economic sanctions against Mexico.

Mexico's anti-drug czar, Mariano Herran Salvatti, declared to reporters
Monday that authorities are ready to "do whatever it takes to totally
dismantle the Juarez cartel."

As part of an investigation into the group, he said, 76 arrest warrants
have been issued against alleged cartel members since mid-January. However,
he said, seven of the warrants were against people already in jail on other
charges. Only four of the other suspects have been arrested so far.

In addition, Herran Salvatti announced rewards of 4 million pesos (about
$465,000) for information leading to the capture of six alleged cartel
leaders. They include Amado Carrillo Fuentes' brother, Vicente, and two of
the late kingpin's alleged top lieutenants--Eduardo Gonzalez Quirarte and
Juan Jose "El Azul" Esparragoza.

The Juarez cartel, based in the Mexican border city across from El Paso,
remains important despite the death of its leader in July, U.S. and Mexican
authorities say.

However, the group has been consumed in recent months by a bloody fight for
power that has left more than 60 people dead.

Whether Monday's announcement will mark a turning point for the Juarez
cartel is unclear. Mexican authorities have had little success in recent
years in finding and arresting leading drug traffickers.

And it's not yet apparent how much success the government will have
offering rewards for information, a policy allowed only after the passage
of the new organized-crime law. In December, authorities announced
$1-million rewards for information on the three Arellano Felix brothers,
who are alleged to run the country's other major drug-trafficking
organization, in Tijuana. In response, about 200 tips have come in, Herran
Salvatti said. But there have been no arrests.

Still, authorities were optimistic, saying the new law had made it easier
to build a case against a cartel, rather than just against individuals.

Authorities said the case against the Juarez group stems from the
investigation into the country's former anti-drug czar, Gen. Jose de Jesus
Gutierrez Rebollo. He was jailed last year on accusations that he helped
Carrillo Fuentes. The arrest stunned Mexicans and raised fears that
corruption was spreading among military officers who have been increasingly
drafted into the anti-drug fight.

In a new sign of that possibility, about a dozen current or former military
officers were among those named in the latest arrest warrants, according to
Herran Salvatti.

He declined to identify them. But two captains who worked for Gutierrez
were among the seven jailed suspects who were charged with additional
crimes in Monday's announcement.

Copyright Los Angeles Times