SAN DIEGO -- A great deal of speculation following Wednesday's raid of a Tecate police academy has lead many to suggest that erstwhile drug kingpin Benjamin Arellano-Felix is trading information for protection, 10News reported.

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A Huge Break For Law Enforcement?

If that is true, it could be a huge break for law enforcement on both sides of the border.

Until just this year, the Arellano-Felix cartel has ruled drug trafficking from the tip of Baja, Mexico, to the border, and well into San Diego, 10News reported.

Mexican authorities have yet to confirm that Benjamin is cooperating with investigators, but the motive of seeking protection makes sense, according to 10News. What is known is that his family is deeply involved in drug smuggling and old rivals are closing in, 10News reported.

Benjamin and his brother, Ramon, were the most well-known of the Arellano-Felix family, 10News reported. Together, they ruled the area. San Diego businessmen were corrupted and killed. Gang members from Barrio Logan were recruited as hitmen, and gunned down a Catholic cardinal and a Tijuana police chief. The cartel slaughtered whole families in an Ensanada compound, 10News reported.

The Arellano-Felix family established themselves as the most violent and dangerous drug cartel in North America, according to 10News.

Law enforcement sources told 10News that Benjamin was the chief, Ramon was the enforcer, Eduardo ran the warehouses, and Rafa provided the transportation until he was arrested in the early 1990s. Federal investigators believe brothers Carlos and Javier were also involved, along with Benjamin's wife, and his mother-in-law.

When Ramon was gunned down in Mazatlan earlier this year, and the cartel's tunnel was uncovered in Tecate, and Benjamin arrested, it was assumed by U.S. drug investigators that rivals in Sinaloa had engineered a successful takeover of the Arellano-Felix organization by stripping the cartel of it's protection.

If that's the case, Benjamin Arellano-Felix may have a great deal to worry about, and a great deal of information to offer, 10News reported.

U.S. drug agents are hopeful that the raids are connected to the kind of inside information Benjamin could provide.