Today, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is announcing reward offers under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) of up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions, in any country, of Sinaloa Cartel Tijuana Plaza Bosses René Arzate-García, a/k/a "La Rana," and his brother, Alfonso Arzate-García, a/k/a "Aquiles." These rewards are offered in coordination with the DEA San Diego Division and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of the Southern District of California in a unified effort to bring the Arzate-García brothers to justice.
According to the DEA, René and Alfonso Arzate-García have jointly 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. Despite ongoing conflicts, they continue to manage this critical trafficking corridor, making them key figures in sustaining cartel operations, including trafficking deadly illicit fentanyl, designated by the Trump Administration as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, into U.S. communities. Last year, the Trump Administration designated the Sinaloa Cartel as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
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 that time. On August 9, 2023, both brothers were 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."
Today's reward offers complement the Department of Justice's announcement of a superseding indictment against René Arzate-García, charging him with narcoterrorism, conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, material support to a foreign terrorist organization, international conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana, and money laundering.
Today's reward offers are authorized by the Secretary under the NRP
