Benjamin Arellano Felix could face extradition to the US

The United States is stepping up its efforts to bring suspected members of one of the most violent and powerful international drugs gangs that has ever operated to justice.

In a joint move, the US and Mexican authorities announced racketeering and trafficking charges against three men, the Arellano Felix brothers, and eight of their associates.

Of the accused, five are in custody in Mexico, including Benjamin Arellano Felix, while the other six are at large and believed to be in Mexico.

A Department of Justice statement said they planned to seek the extradition of all 11 individuals to stand trial in the US.

A spokesman for the Mexican consulate in San Francisco, Alberto Lozano, told the BBC that those in custody could be extradited if the US authorities guaranteed not to apply the death penalty, which Mexico opposes.

No escape

"This case sends a message to drug dealers everywhere," said US Attorney General John Ashcroft as he announced the charges at a news conference in San Diego, California, on Tuesday.

"We will investigate, prosecute and punish all those who deal in drugs. There is no escape across the border."

Mr Ashcroft was joined by his Mexican counterpart, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, whose office gave substantial help to US officials in the course of the investigation.

The charges against the 11 suspects include:

• racketeering

• conspiracy to import and distribute drugs

• money-laundering

At its height, the Arellano Felix Organisation, based in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, controlled the flow of cocaine and marijuana the US, and its operations extended into southern Mexico and Colombia.

The gang is believed to be behind more than 100 drug-related murders, in Mexico and the US.

Still at large: Francisco Javier Arellano Felix

The US Department of Justice says the traffickers recruited, trained and armed bodyguards and assassins to protect the cartel's leaders.

These recruits were also ordered to kill rival drug traffickers, uncooperative Mexican police officers and soldiers, as well as members of the Mexican media who printed unfavourable stories about the gang.

The charges also allege that the cartel's leadership negotiated with Colombian guerrillas about a proposed trade of weapons for cocaine.

Benjamin Arellano Felix was arrested in March 2002 in Mexico - a month after his brother Ramon was killed in a shootout with Mexican police.