Officials: Mexican Drug Gang on Run

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press Writer

AP-NY-03-11-02 2330EST

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP)--With the Arellano Felix brothers out of the picture--one in jail, another apparently dead--U.S. and Mexican authorities believe their drug gang is falling apart.

"Basically this is it for them,'' said Donald Thornhill Jr. of the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego, Calif. Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Felix "were really the glue that kept the organization together.''

The brothers allegedly built one of Latin America's most powerful and brutal smuggling businesses.

Benjamin Arellano Felix was captured by Mexican troops Saturday in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Authorities said he confirmed reports that his brother Ramon died Feb. 10 in a shootout with police in Mazatlan.

President Bush congratulated Mexican President Vicente Fox on the arrest during a five-minute telephone conversation Monday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, meanwhile, called the Arrellano Felix organization ``one of the most violent and brutal cartels in the world'' and said the arrest was the most significant ever of a wanted drug trafficker in Mexico.

snip-

Read Complete Article Here