Pubdate: Sun, 07 Apr 2002 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2002 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 Author: The Washington Post GANG HIT BLAMED IN DRUG LORD'S DEATH MEXICO CITY - Mexico's most ruthless drug lord probably was 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 executed by gunmen on Feb. 10 in Mazatlan on Mexico's Pacific coast. 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. 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. A second U.S. law enforcement official agreed that the death of Ramon Arellano Felix was "definitely not clever police work." The 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. The official said Zambada's gang and the Arellano Felixeshave been fighting over the lucrative drug corridor into the California. He said Ramon Arellano Felix was on his way to a Mazatlan hotel to try to kill Zambada; instead, "he was set up." - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager