Mexico Arrests Alleged Godfather of Drug Traffic

Mexican police have arrested one of the world’s most wanted cocaine dealers, who also has been accused of links to the killing of a U.S. drug agent, the Mexican attorney general’s office said Sunday.

Felix Gallardo, called the godfather of Mexican drug trafficking, was arrested late Saturday in Guadalajara in the western state of Jalisco, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Numerous high-powered weapons were also seized by members of the Federal Judicial Police, the statement said, adding that Gallardo put up no resistance.

Flown to Capital

The government news agency Notimex reported that Gallardo and four others also arrested have been flown to Mexico City, 300 miles east of Guadalajara.

U.S. officials investigating the killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique S. Camarena in 1985 said Gallardo was able to build up an immense drug operation with protection from high Mexican officials, including a state governor.

DEA agents long had suspected Gallardo of involvement in the slaying of Camarena but were unable to locate him.

A U.S. official welcomed news of the arrest. “We’re delighted to hear that. This is most interesting,” William Graves, a U.S. Embassy spokesman, said Sunday night.

Police Force Arrested

In another development, authorities said the entire police force of the city of Culiacan, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, was arrested in a massive sweep Saturday night.

All 70 to 80 police officers were set free Sunday with the exception of Police Chief Robespier Lisarraja. He and State Police Chief Arturo Moreno, also arrested, remained in military custody at an army base, said Jorge Gonzalez, spokesman for the federal attorney general’s office in Culiacan.

Gonzalez could not say why the town’s entire police force was arrested or on what charges the two chiefs were being held. Culiacan is Gallardo’s hometown and has long had a reputation for official corruption.

Gallardo, 43, is thought to run one of the largest cocaine trafficking operations in the world. Mexico’s President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who took office on Dec. 1, has pledged to crack down on drug dealers, and the arrest underlines Salinas’ vow to “fight this social cancer,” the attorney general’s office said.

Gallardo had such good connections that, according to U.S. drug agents, Mexican agents were afraid to find him, according to the recently published book “Desperadoes” by Elaine Shannon.

Nine men have been indicted in Los Angeles for the kidnaping and murder of Camarena and his pilot near Guadalajara. One was killed in a shoot-out with Mexican police, two were convicted last year and six are being held in Mexico.