Key Figure In Mexican Drug Cartel Arrested

SAN DIEGO — One of Mexico's most wanted drug trafficking suspects was captured Saturday night at his Tijuana home after a fierce shootout with authorities, providing some good news amid the border city's raging drug war.

Eduardo Arellano Felix, an original member of the notorious Arellano Felix drug cartel, was arrested in an operation by more than 100 federal and state police and soldiers, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. They were acting on a tip supplied by U.S. authorities, who had offered up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Arellano Felix, according to Eileen Zeidler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Arellano Felix was a key figure in the early years of the cartel, which grew into one of Mexico's most powerful organized crime groups by smuggling tons of cocaine into the U.S., starting in the late 1980s.
The cartel has been decimated in recent years by arrests and killings, including the capture and deaths of four siblings of Arellano Felix. The suspected kingpin had been in hiding for several years and was living at his home under an assumed name, authorities said.
"He was the last of the brothers. This was another significant blow to what's left of the Arellano Felix organization," Zeidler said.
The U.S. attorney's office in San Diego named Arellano Felix in a 2003 indictment that charged him and 10 cartel associates with racketeering, drug trafficking, money laundering and several murders.
No injuries were reported in the shootout. The suspect was flown to Mexico City after his arrest, and U.S. authorities will seek his extradition.
The Mexican government claimed a major victory in its offensive against the country's organized crime groups. Facundo Rosas, deputy minister for strategy and police intelligence, called Arellano Felix a "historic and moral figure in the Tijuana Cartel" at a news conference in Mexico City.
But some experts and U.S. officials said his role in the organization had diminished in recent years and it's unclear whether his capture would have much impact.
Arellano Felix, nicknamed "El Doctor" because he was once a medical student, took a much lower profile after the 1993 murder of Guadalajara Archbishop Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, which was blamed on cartel gunmen.
"All of a sudden everybody was their enemy," said John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor