United States: $10 million promised to capture “Achilles” and “The Frog”, masterminds of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel

The American hunt continues in Mexico. A few days after the death of El Mencho, head of the Jalisco cartel and the biggest drug lord in the country, US authorities are now targeting two bigwigs of the Sinaloa cartel. In order to continue its policy of repressing drug trafficking, the American State Department promised, on Friday February 27, a reward of 10 million dollars for any information that could lead to the Arzate-Garcia brothers (5 million for each).

According to American authorities, the duo are at the head of an important branch of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, very influential in western Mexico, particularly around the city of Tijuana. The criminal network would export large quantities of drugs to the United States and enlist gangs inside the country to commit murders according to TJ Holland, acting special agent in charge of the FBI office in San Diego, interviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

“Their days of ruling money laundering cartels and providing material support to a terrorist organization are numbered,” said James Nunnallee, special agent in charge of the DEA’s San Diego division. Adding: “No cartel leader is untouchable. »

“Achilles” and “The Frog”

René Arzate-Garcia, nicknamed “La Rana” (The Frog) is therefore considered one of the heads of the Sinaloa cartel, presumed head of the organization in Tijuana. The 42-year-old man is suspected by the United States of having links with gangs on both sides of the border and is being prosecuted for “narcoterrorism”. The DEA accuses him of having “imported thousands of kilograms of drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana into the Southern District of California” and of having “laundered millions of dollars earned from the sale of these drugs”.

His big brother, Alfonso Arzate-Garcia known as “Aquiles” (Achilles) is suspected of helping him control the “Tijuana corridor”, the route of drugs and narcotic violence to the United States. “When I told them that they were no longer hunters, but the hunted, it was not a threat. It was a certainty,” assured Adam Gordon, US Attorney for the Southern District of California.

The death of El Mencho has plunged Mexico into chaos in recent days. Suspected members of the Jalisco cartel blocked roads, burned vehicles, attacked gas stations, businesses and banks in twenty Mexican states. 10,000 Mexican army soldiers were deployed and clashes with drug traffickers resulted in nearly sixty deaths.