US offers $10 million for capture of brothers said to lead Mexico's
Sinaloa cartel in Tijuana
[February 27, 2026]
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it
would pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrests or
convictions of two brothers identified as leaders of Mexico's Sinaloa
cartel in the state of Baja California, which includes Tijuana. |
Concertina wire lines the interior of a border wall separating Tijuana,
Mexico, from the United States, June 4, 2025, in San Diego. (AP
Photo/Gregory Bull, File) |
|
The reward offer came the same day that authorities announced a
new indictment against Rene Arzate Garcia, 42, known as “La Rana"
("The Frog"). He was initially charged with drug crimes in San
Diego. The superseding indictment includes charges of
conspiracy, narcoterrorism and material support to a designated
foreign terrorist organization.
The U. S. is offering $5 million each for information on Rene
Arzate Garcia and Alfonso Arzate Garcia, 52, known as “Aquiles”
("Achilles"). Their whereabouts are unknown.
“As controllers of a critical trafficking node in Tijuana at the
U.S. border, the Arzate-Garcia brothers have become key
essential components of the cartel’s command-and-control
structure,” the State Department said. “Their control of the
Tijuana Plaza offers the Sinaloa Cartel a tactical advantage in
maintaining dominance over rival organizations, ensuring no
interruption to the busiest border crossing in the Western
Hemisphere.”
California's border with Mexico has been a battleground between
the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.
The rewards were announced four days after the Mexican army
killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio
Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” decapitating what had
become Mexico’s most powerful cartel. The drug lord was the
Mexican government’s biggest prize yet to show the Trump
administration in its efforts to crack down on the cartels.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
|
