Mexico extradites major drug family brother to US

MEXICO CITY, Sep 17 (Reuters) Mexico has extradited one of the infamous Arellano Felix drug-smuggling brothers to the United States, where he has faced drug charges since the 1980s, a source in the attorney general's office said.

Mexican agents flew Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, the family's oldest brother, to the Texas border city of Brownsville and gave him to US authorities yesterday.

Arellano Felix was convicted of weapons charges and has been in prison in Mexico since 1993.

Based in Tijuana, the Arellano Felix brothers lead one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels, although it has been hit by a series of arrests in recent years.

The U.S. Coast Guard arrested another brother, Javier Arellano Felix, in a dramatic operation at sea off Mexico's Pacific coast last month.

Described by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as ''one of the most ruthless thugs'' in the illegal drug trade, Javier Arellano Felix had a U.S. government reward on his head of up to 5 million dollar.

The trafficking family lost some of its power in 2002, when its main enforcer, Ramon Arellano Felix, was killed in a shootout with police and his brother Benjamin, the gang's mastermind, was arrested.

The family continued to do business, however, and had cut deals with the Gulf cartel in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, the government said.

About 1,500 people were killed last year in a brutal drug war in Mexico. The violence has raged on this year, including a wave of drug gang beheadings in the western state of Michoacan.

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