For years, writes Jason Kandel in today's Daily News, "when police intercepted cocaine and methamphetamine coming into locations as far-flung as Hawaii and Florida, they would hear the same thing when they cracked the suspects carrying the drugs: 'I got it from Henry in L.A.'" Drug agents could never find "Henry," but this month they think they caught their man. Genaro Rodriguez is a 30-year-old ex-gang member from the Valley whose wife was executed in their Santa Clarita home in 2001. Rodriguez was shot and left for dead, but recovered and is alleged to have run a multi-million-dollar drug network.

Federal agents believe Rodriguez was the Los Angeles connection for the Mexican Mafia, the notorious prison-based gang also known as Eme; the Valencia Cartel, which controls narcotics trafficking in Tijuana, and the Arellano Felix Organization, which controls narcotics trafficking through Mexico.

"Genaro Rodriguez was moving dope all over -- 100 pounds of crystal meth a month out of Los Angeles," said Will Torrence, the Drug Enforcement Administration special agent assigned to a task force assembled to crack the Rodriguez ring.