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CNN Sunday Morning

Mexico Claims 'Triumph for Justice'

Aired March 10, 2002 - 08:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Mexican officials say they have smashed one of their country's biggest drug smuggling empires. Authorities say they have arrested the alleged leader of a drug cartel and found evidence the co-leader is dead.

CNN's Hillary Lane was -- has details on what the president of Mexico is calling, "a triumph for justice."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) search warrant (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HILLARY LANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early Friday morning, federal agents storm a San Diego house and arrest several people believed to have ties to one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels. Same thing in Denver and Minneapolis. Twenty-two people arrested in all.

Then, at 1:00 AM Saturday morning, the biggest catch of all. Mexican police capture the cartel's undisputed leader, who's now awaiting extradition to the United States. Though that operation was carried out by Mexican officials alone, the U.S. considers it a huge victory.

ASA HUTCHINSON, DEA ADMINISTRATOR: Currently it disrupts the most violent and prolific organization engaged in drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States in decades.

LANE: The Arellano-Felix organization operating out of Tijuana is responsible for much of the cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana smuggled into the U.S. Officials on both sides of the border believe the cartel is responsible for hundreds of killings of police, prosecutors, judges and journalists. Suspected even of the 1993 assassination of a Roman Catholic cardinal in Guadalajara.

Ramon and Benjamin Arellano-Felix each carried a bounty of $2 million on his head. In 1997, the FBI put Ramon on its 10 most wanted list. Mexican officials confirmed Saturday that it was Ramon who was killed a month ago in a gunfight in Mexico.

HUTCHINSON: There's been a very intense sharing of information back and forth with Mexican law enforcement and United States law enforcement all through this process. LANE: While the capture of Benjamin, the undisputed leader, was a top priority for the U.S., it's only one step in an ongoing war against ever more sophisticated traffickers.

MATHEA FALCO, DRUG STRATEGIES: Unfortunately, it won't mean much in terms of reduced drug trafficking for Mexico. And that is simply because, as long as we have an active market in this country, there will always be Mexican growers and traffickers who will supply that.

LANE: Even if the U.S. and Mexico dismantle this cartel, history shows there will be others fighting over territory, eager to supply the demand on U.S. streets.

Hillary Lane, for CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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