Sanctioning Sinaloa Cartel Leaders and Corrupt Enablers in Baja California

The United States is today sanctioning 21 individuals and 25 entities tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, including cartel leader Ismael Zambada Sicairos ("Mayito Flaco") and the network of Tijuana- and Mexicali-based cell leaders, financial facilitators, and corrupt Mexican officials who enable the cartel to operate with impunity along the U.S.-Mexico border.

This action underscores the Trump Administration's commitment to dismantling the Sinaloa Cartel's operational and political infrastructure in Mexico, disrupting the networks that fuel fentanyl trafficking, violence, and corruption, and threaten communities on both sides of the border. Today's designations reflect the whole-of-government approach the United States is taking to combat transnational criminal organizations and the Foreign Terrorist Organizations with which they intersect.

Today's designations highlight the corrosive reach of cartel influence into Mexican governance, particularly in Baja California, where associates of the governor's ex-husband, a former Mexicali public security director, and other political operators allegedly accepted bribes to shield Sinaloa Cartel operations from law enforcement.

To accelerate the removal of key cartel figures from the region, the Department of State's Narcotics Rewards Program is offering up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Tijuana plaza bosses Alfonso Arzate Garcia ("Aquiles") and Rene Arzate Garcia ("La Rana"), as well as up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Mexicali cartel leader Juan Jose Ponce Felix ("El Ruso").

The action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the international proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended by E.O. 13886, which targets terrorists and their supporters. For more information about today's designations, please see Treasury's press-release.

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