DEA Map of Tijuana Cartel's operations

The Tiajuana Cartel - also known as the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO) - has a firm hold on all drug trafficking in Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacan, Chiapas and Baja, and has strong links to San Diego, California. The AFO dispenses an estimated $1 million weekly in bribes to Mexican officials and maintains its own-well armed, trained, paramilitary security force. The AFO is believed to be responsible for Cardinal Posadas's murder.

• The DEA considers the AFO the most violent and aggressive of the Mexican border cartels. Here is the DEA's background profile on the AFO and its leaders.

• "Political Corruption and Drug Trafficking in Mexico,"
  Andrew Reding's August 8th, 1995 testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations concerning the AFO and its political ties.