The recent arrest of Tijuana drug cartel ringleader Benjamin Arellano Felix and the death of his brother, enforcer Ramon Arellano Felix, have opened the door for Mexico's largest drug trade organizations to move into the lucrative Tijuana-San Diego drug transit corridor. A brief but bloody turf war will ensue that likely will be felt from northwestern Mexico to Los Angeles. A rival organization led by Ismael Zambada appears to have the best chance of emerging victorious from the battle.

Unlike Colombia -- where more than 200 small groups have been involved in the drug trade since the demise of the

Medellin and Cali cartels in the mid-1990s -- the drug trade in Mexico will continue being dominated by a handful of large organizations. These organizations will be quick to fill the void left by the Arellano Felix brothers, meaning little, if any, disruption in the West Coast drug trade.

The Arellano Felix brothers controlled one of the most brutal and lucrative drug franchises in Mexico. The Tijuana Cartel, centered in Baja, Calif., is believed to supply as much as 40 percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States, as well as large amounts of marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines.

The past few weeks have been bad for the cartel, however. Benjamin Arellano Felix, generally considered the brains of the organization, was arrested March 9 and is being held at a maximum-security prison outside Mexico City, awaiting trial in Mexico and facing a possible extradition to the United States. Three days after Benjamin's arrest, the Attorney General's office in Mexico announced that DNA tests confirmed that a man killed Feb. 10 in a shootout with Mazatlan police was in fact Felix's brother Ramon.

On March 11, alleged cartel lawyer Rodolfo Carrillo Barragan was shot and killed in Tijuana.