U.S. SAYS GANG KILLED DRUG LORD

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's most ruthless drug lord was probably killed by a
rival gang aided by corrupt police officers, not in a shoot-out with police
as has been widely reported, according to a senior U.S. law enforcement
official.

The official said Ramon Arellano Felix, the enforcer of the Tijuana drug
cartel run by his family, is believed to have been forced to his knees and
executed by gunmen on Feb. 10 in Mazatlan on Mexico's Pacific coast.

He said the exact details of the killing will probably never be known, but
U.S. officials believe this version is correct.

The death of Arellano Felix and the arrest of his brother, Benjamin
Arellano Felix, on March 9 have been portrayed by President Vicente Fox and
others as major victories for Mexican law enforcement.

The U.S. official stressed that the capture of Benjamin Arellano Felix, who
was thought of as the family cartel's leader, was indeed a significant
accomplishment for Mexican authorities, who have been much more aggressive
and successful in pursuing drug traffickers since Fox took office in
December 2000. But the official said the killing of Ramon Arellano Felix
was actually a drug-war assassination in which Mexican police officers were
accomplices.

For years, the Arellano Felixes and other leading Mexican drug lords have
been able to escape capture by paying off police, army officers,
prosecutors and judges.

A second U.S. law enforcement official said Arellano Felix was killed by
gunmen working for rival drug lord Ismael Zambada Garcia, who has now
become a top target of U.S. law enforcement among Mexican drug traffickers.

He said Zambada's gunmen and Sinaloa state police forced Arellano Felix's
car to the side of the road.

The official said they then forced Arellano Felix to his knees and shot him
"at least four times" at close range.

Oscar Rivera, a spokesman for the Sinaloa state police, denied the U.S.
officials' version, saying Arellano Felix was killed in a shootout with
state police officers.

Mexican authorities took several weeks before disclosing that they believed
the dead man found on the Mazatlan sidewalk was Arellano Felix, who
appeared on the FBI 10 Most Wanted list next to a photo of Osama bin Laden.
DNA tests conducted by the FBI confirmed last month that the body was that
of the drug lord.