BY KEVIN G. HALL
                      Herald World Staff

                      MEXICO CITY - The arrest of the most-wanted drug lord in both Mexico and the United States is prompting fears
                      of bloody turf wars along the border as rivals try to muscle their way into the multibillion-dollar business long
                      controlled by the Tijuana cartel.

                      Heavily armed soldiers surprised Benjamín Arellano Félix overnight Saturday at a posh home in Puebla, taking the
                      feared kingpin into custody without firing a shot.

                      His capture and the confirmed death of his brother Ramón, the family's enforcer, are expected to cripple the cartel
                      and spark bloodshed among rivals at major border crossings such as Tijuana-San Diego and Ciudad Juarez-El
                      Paso, Texas.

                      ''Most analysts are worried there could be an increased level of violence among the organizations that are trying
                      to establish new routes and new trafficking regions,'' said Ana María Salazar, a former official in the Clinton White
                      House and a professor at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico.

                      A veteran Drug Enforcement Administration agent, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several months of
                      violence are expected on both sides of the border until a new dominant group emerges.

                      ''I think it is going to be awhile before there is a definite group or groups that we can identify. I think it will
                      probably be seven months before anyone can give a reasonable opinion,'' the agent said.

                      Law enforcement experts in Mexico and the United States expect Eduardo and Javier Arellano Félix to make a bid
                      to save the cartel that law enforcement officials say was run by their brother. Gunning for their territory will be
                      Ismael Zampada, a rival drug lord whom Ramón Arellano Félix reportedly was hunting when he was killed Feb. 10
                      in Mazatlán.

                      For the past decade, the Arellano Félix family has used violence to keep a strong grip on drug smuggling into
                      California and Arizona for distribution across the United States. The Tijuana cartel may be responsible for moving
                      from one-third to 40 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States, the DEA has estimated.

                      The cartel is believed to be behind at least 300 killings in Mexico over the past decade and was said to have
                      bribed and threatened its way into the highest corridors of power. Benjamín Arellano Félix reportedly approached
                      politicians and judges with a choice: accept our money or die.

                      ''People were definitely afraid of this guy. I talked to Mexicans who were absolutely terrified,'' the DEA agent said.
                      ``If they perceived you had crossed them, regardless if it was true, you were going to be killed.''

                      Given the cartel's reported high-level connections, the arrest of Benjamín Arellano Félix eventually could shed
                      light on some of Mexico's darkest secrets.

                      Mystery still shrouds the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, who was gunned down
                      while campaigning in Tijuana, the Arellano Félix family's home turf. The cartel is believed to have been involved in
                      the 1993 murder of Mexican Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo at the Guadalajara airport.