US targets Sinaloa cartel leaders after El Mencho killing in Mexico

The United States is offering rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Sinaloa Cartel Tijuana Plaza bosses René Arzate-García, aka “La Rana,” and his brother, Alfonso Arzate-García, aka “Aquiles.”

The manhunt to bring the Arzate-García brothers to justice is in coordination with the San Diego Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Office for the Southern District of California.

The siblings, according to the DEA, have controlled the Tijuana Plaza for the Sinaloa Cartel for the past 15 years, “maintaining authority through violence, strategic alliances, and deep local influence, including political and police corruption.”

They are categorized among key figures trafficking deadly illicit fentanyl into the U.S. and sustaining cartel operations in Tijuana, the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California.

Last year, the Trump administration designated the Sinaloa Cartel as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), and classified fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

In 2014, the Arzate-García brothers were charged in the Southern District of California with drug trafficking offenses in separate indictments and have been fugitives since then.

On August 9, 2023, the duo was designated by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Assets Control under Executive Order 14059, “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.”

The Department of Justice has further charged René Arzate-García with narcoterrorism, material support to a foreign terrorist organization, international conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana, and money laundering.

The bounty placed on the Arzate-García brothers by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs follows a similar offer for another Sinaloa Cartel leader, Juan José Ponce Félix, aka “El Ruso.”

The announcement comes after the killing of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho,” head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and one of the world’s most-wanted drug lords.

At the time of his death, the American government offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture, classifying him as a primary target for the DEA.

El Mencho died on February 22 after being wounded in a shootout with Mexican special forces in Tapalpa, Jalisco. His demise triggered chaos in more than 15 states in Mexico as cartel members went on a rampage.

They torched stores, commercial trucks, and gas stations, blocked major highways, and clashed with security forces, resulting in dozens of deaths, including at least 25 members of the National Guard.

Founded around 2009, the CJNG rose to become a powerful and violent criminal organization in Mexico, rivaling the Sinaloa Cartel. The Mexican-led operation that eliminated El Mencho reportedly utilized information from U.S. intelligence.