U.S. Offers $10 Million Reward for Sinaloa Cartel Brothers

The U.S. State Department announced on Thursday a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of two brothers identified as key leaders in Mexico's Sinaloa cartel operating in Baja California, a state that includes the border city of Tijuana. The offer targets Rene Arzate Garcia, 42, known as La Rana or The Frog, and his brother Alfonso Arzate Garcia, 52, known as Aquiles or Achilles, with $5 million available for each. Authorities believe the brothers' current whereabouts are unknown.

The reward coincides with the unsealing of a superseding indictment against Rene Arzate Garcia in federal court in San Diego. He had faced initial charges related to drug trafficking in the region. The updated charges now include conspiracy, narcoterrorism, and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors allege that the brothers oversee a vital trafficking hub in Tijuana, directly at the U.S. border, which forms an essential part of the Sinaloa cartel's command-and-control operations.

According to the State Department, the Arzate Garcia brothers' dominance over the Tijuana Plaza, a key territory in cartel terms,...