The US State Department said it will pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of two brothers identified as leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel in Baja California, which includes Tijuana.
SAN DIEGO — The US State Department said Thursday it will pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of two brothers identified as leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel in Baja California state, which includes Tijuana.
The reward offer came on the same day 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, drug terrorism, and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The United States 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 monitors of an important smuggling node in Tijuana on the US border, the Arzate-Garcia brothers became integral members of the cartel’s command and control structure,” the State Department said. “Their control of Tijuana Plaza provides the Sinaloa cartel with a tactical advantage in maintaining dominance over rival organizations, ensuring the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere remains uninterrupted.”
California’s border with Mexico served as a battleground between the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.
The rewards were announced four days later Mexican army killed leader Jalisco New Generation CartelNemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” beheads what later becomes Mexico The most powerful cartel. The drug lord was the largest award the Mexican government has yet received to show the Trump administration in its efforts to eliminate the cartels.