TIJUANA, Mexico, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Mexican security forces arrested drug cartel leader Eduardo Arellano Felix, one of the international traffickers most sought by U.S. anti-drug authorities, the army said on Sunday.

Arellano Felix was a senior member of a family cartel of the same name in the violent border city of Tijuana and faces a five-year old indictment in the United States for drug smuggling.

"With the support of the federal police, (the army) entered the Chapultepec neighborhood where, under fire, it detained Eduardo Arellano Felix," the defense ministry said in a statement.

The Arellano Felix family dominated the drug trade into California in the 1990s and was feared for its ruthless elimination of enemies.

But the deaths or arrests of many of its leaders have weakened the organization and other Mexican drug cartels have moved into the city to battle for control of the lucrative drug trade.

The violent struggle between rival cartels has led to hundreds of killings in Tijuana this year, with many of the victims being mutilated and dumped in public places.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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