\n<\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department says it will pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrests or convictions of two brothers identified as leaders of Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa cartel in the state of Baja California, which includes Tijuana<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n SAN DIEGO — <\/span>The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it would pay up to $10 million for information leading to the arrests or convictions of two brothers identified as leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel in the state of Baja California, which includes Tijuana.<\/p>\n The reward offer came the same day that authorities announced a new indictment against Rene Arzate Garcia, 42, known as \u201cLa Rana” (“The Frog”). He was initially charged with drug crimes in San Diego. The superseding indictment includes charges of conspiracy, narcoterrorism and material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.<\/p>\n The U. S. is offering $5 million each for information on Rene Arzate Garcia and Alfonso Arzate Garcia, 52, known as \u201cAquiles\u201d (“Achilles”). Their whereabouts are unknown.<\/p>\n \u201cAs controllers of a critical trafficking node in Tijuana at the U.S. border, the Arzate-Garcia brothers have become key essential components of the cartel\u2019s command-and-control structure,\u201d the State Department said. \u201cTheir control of the Tijuana Plaza offers the Sinaloa Cartel a tactical advantage in maintaining dominance over rival organizations, ensuring no interruption to the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n California’s border with Mexico has been a battleground between the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.<\/p>\n The rewards were announced four days after the Mexican army killed<\/a> the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a>, Nemesio Rub\u00e9n Oseguera Cervantes, \u201cEl Mencho,\u201d decapitating what had become Mexico\u2019s most powerful cartel<\/a>. The drug lord was the Mexican government\u2019s biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration in its efforts to crack down on the cartels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n