SAN DIEGO (AP):

Four alleged drug kingpins who were extradited from Mexico to the U.S. earlier this month arrived in San Diego to face an array of drug trafficking charges, authorities said yesterday.

Among the quartet are brothers Ismael and Gilberto Higuera Guerrero, allegedly top figures in the Arellano Felix drug cartel, based in Tijuana, Mexico. They are charged with racketeering, drug trafficking and money laundering charges in a sweeping 2003 indictment naming 11 people.

The four men, who arrived in San Diego from Texas on the weekend, were scheduled to appear Monday before United States Magistrate Judge Barbara Lynn Major, said Debra Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego.

They were among 15 extradited to Houston on January 20 by the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has pledged to crack down on drug smuggling and violence. Mexican officials have said the Calderon government was willing to extradite the alleged drug lords because they continued to run their drug operations from prison in Mexico, not because of U.S. pressure.

Ismael Higuera Guerrero is alleged to have been responsible for collecting payments and moving large shipments of Colombian cocaine and marijuana from Mexico into the U.S., as well as directing kidnapping, torture and murder of cartel "enemies" in Tijuana.

Gilberto Higuera Guerrero allegedly had similar responsibilities in Mexicali, Mexico, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) east of San Diego.

A third cartel member, alleged drug runner Jose Albert Marquez, is also scheduled to appear. He was charged in a 2002 indictment with participating in a conspiracy to import and distribute marijuana and cocaine.

Hector Palma Salazar, the suspected former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, was also brought to San Diego to face charges of conspiring to distribute large quantities of cocaine stemming from a 1995 indictment. Palma has denied any ties to drug trafficking, saying he works as a rancher.