Anonymous - 1-5-2005 at 06:36 PM
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_no...
BY DAVID APONTE/EL UNIVERSAL
January 05, 2005
Federal agents suspect that two of the nation's most powerful drug lords now both behind bars in the same high-security prison may have formed an
alliance between their drug cartels, according to a copy of a report from the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR).
"Events observed in La Palma prison, where Osiel C?rdenas and Benjam?n Arellano F?lix are held, suggest a possible pact," between the two drug lords,
the report says without providing further details.
The report also says both men have continued to lead their cartels from behind bars.
Benjam?n still directs operations of the so-called Arellano F?lix brothers' cartel which controls drug trafficking around Tijuana, Baja California
through his bother Francisco Javier "The Tiger" and Benjam?n's principal lieutenant, Manuel Aguirre, also known as "The Horse," the report says.
Benjam?n Arellano F?lix was arrested in early 2002 shortly after his brother Ram?n was killed in a shootout.
The report also says that C?rdenas continues to control his cartel from behind bars. It notes that the cells of C?rdenas' Gulf cartel were thrown into
disorder after the capture of their leader in early 2003.
The nation's other major drug cartels are fighting to take over control of the territory around the Gulf of Mexico, particularly the states of
Tamaulipas and Veracruz, controlled by C?rdenas' gang.
La Palma authorities have vowed a shake-up after the second shooting in three months inside the nation's high security prison, which holds many of the
nation's most notorious criminals.
Last Friday, an inmate shot and killed Arturo Guzm?n, the younger brother of suspected gang boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzm?n, inside the prison with a
gun allegedly allowed in by prison guards.
Federal authorities admit corruption is rampant throughout the Mexican prison systems, but they have tried to maintain that La Palma was an exception.