Heir to Juarez Cartel Detained
Ricardo Garcia Urquiza, known as the Doctor, considered the heir to the Juarez drug cartel, was arrested in Mexico City as part of Operation New Generation, a Republic Attorney General's Office (PGR) note informed.

According to the PGR, Garcia Urquiza was in charge of the receipt and traffic of US-bound cocaine from Colombia.

Following the execution of Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes in April 2004, the cartel leadership was restructured, with the Doctor assuming control of financial operations and drug smuggling by sea and land.

Garcia Urquiza implemented a new business-oriented modus operandi in drug operations, using state-of-the-art technology, the note added for the two major drug routes.

On the Pacific route, the drug leaves Colombia for the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) and from there along the coasts of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, ending en Oaxaca, Michoacan and Guerrero, Mexico.

The Caribbean route begins at the ports of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Martha, passes through Panama, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Caiman Islands and Belize and enters Mexico through Quintana Roo.

Police arrested two of Garcia Urquiza's lieutenants, Rodolfo Davila "The Consul" and Juan Ignacio Izquierdo, in late October.

At least 10 Juarez Cartel members have been arrested so far this year, including Maria Nereyda Garcia, in charge of renting security houses and guarding large sums of cash, according to the PGR.