U.S. offers up to $15 million for three alleged La Mayiza leaders
Original reporting: El Imparcial
What happened
The reward announcement names Alfonso and René Arzate García and Juan José Ponce Félix, whom U.S. authorities identify as senior figures linked to La Mayiza in Baja California.
Reporting and context
The United States is offering up to $15 million in total rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of three alleged senior members of La Mayiza, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel with reported operations in Baja California. The targets are brothers Alfonso Arzate García, known as “El Aquiles,” and René Arzate García, known as “La Rana,” along with Juan José Ponce Félix, known as “El Ruso.” Each reward is worth up to $5 million.
According to El Imparcial, the announcement follows actions by the U.S. Treasury Department and its Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 29, 2026, against people and networks the U.S. government links to the Sinaloa Cartel. Treasury identifies the Arzate brothers as plaza leaders in Tijuana and Ponce Félix as the leader of Los Rusos in Mexicali. Those descriptions are allegations and official U.S. designations, not a Mexican judicial finding.
El Imparcial reported that the Arzate brothers were charged in the United States in 2014 in cases involving drug-trafficking offenses and remain fugitives, according to U.S. authorities. The DEA said in February 2026 that the brothers had jointly controlled Tijuana’s plaza for about 15 years. A federal grand jury indictment announced that month listed charges against René Arzate including narco-terrorism, providing material support to terrorism, continuing criminal enterprise, international drug-distribution conspiracy and money laundering.
The Sept. 29 sanctions announcement covered 21 people and 25 entities. OFAC said designated property under U.S. jurisdiction is blocked and that U.S. persons are generally barred from certain transactions with those individuals and entities.