Mexico drug `Lord of skies' is dead, local media say

Amado Carrillo Fuentes, reputed to be Mexico's most notorious drug trafficker and one of the first to use jetliners to smuggle cocaine, has died, local media said Saturday.

Carrillo's mother, Aurora Fuentes de Carrillo, has confirmed the death, the national Televisa television network said. Quoting unnamed family members, the newspaper Noroeste de Culiacan also reported the death.Further details were not available.

However the federal attorney general's office in Mexico issued a communique saying it could not confirm the death and was investigating.

Carrillo, 41, reportedly heads a drug operation based in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. He is known as "Lord of the Skies" for his use of old jetliners to fly Colombian cocaine into Mexico, from where it is transferred to the United States.

If the reports are true, the drug lord's death could set off a turf war for control of cocaine smuggling operations along Mexico's 2,000-mile border with the United States.

"There will be territorial wars with people killed," predicted Phil Jordan, a retired U.S. drug agent who until recently headed a government agency that monitors Mexico's drug lords.

"Carrillo's control and influence in Mexico has been unparalleled," said Jordan. "He was Mexico's premier king of narco-politico corruption."

Jordan emphasized the need by Mexican and U.S. authorities to confirm Carrillo's death. He didn't rule out the possibility that Carrillo had faked his own death to get authorities off his back.

"Until authorities see the body, I won't be convinced," said Jordan. "These guys are so powerful they can change their appearance overnight. Birth cer-tif-i-cates for them are a dime a dozen."

In February, Mexican prosecutors arrested army Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, head of Mexico's anti-drug agency, on charges he had accepted bribes from Carrillo. He has denied the charges.

Reporters said luxurious cars and flowers had begun arriving at Carrillo family home in Guamuchilito in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa.

Police and soldiers have reportedly raided Carrillo's homes, ranches and other properties. But drug lord himself proved elusive.