Remarks of U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon at La Rana Press Conference - English and Spanish

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

United States Attorney Adam Gordon

La Rana Press Conference

February 26, 2026

My name is Adam Gordon, and I'm the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California. Joining me are:

• The lead prosecutors on this case, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Mellor and Matthew Sutton;
• James M. Nunnallee, Special Agent in Charge, DEA San Diego;
• TJ Holland, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office;
• Executive Assistant United States Attorney Victor White
• Jason Powell, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and
• Homeland Security Investigations SAC Kevin Murphy, together representing the Homeland Security Task Force

At the end of the statements, we will provide an opportunity for questions related to this case and have Spanish language media availability.

Sagitario. Chavo Felix. Flaquito. Payo. Valdez-Ruiz.

They're here. They're charged. They're only the beginning.

Less than 300 days ago, these cartel kingpins were free and unafraid. Now they sit in federal custody in the Southern District of California.

When I told them that they were no longer the hunters, they were the hunted, that wasn't a threat, it was a certainty. Foreign terrorist organizations may operate across borders - but justice doesn't stop at them. Recent reports regarding cartel leadership in Mexico underscore a simple truth: criminal organizations built on fear and violence are inherently unstable. Individuals may rise and fall, but the rule of law endures.

Building on these unprecedented successes, today we are announcing a superseding indictment against Rene Arzate Garcia, infamously known as "La Rana," a high-ranking, ultra-violent Sinaloa Cartel lieutenant who has controlled the Tijuana drug corridor for 15 years through fear and force.

We are also announcing that the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is offering up to $5 million each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of La Rana and his brother, Alfonso Arzate-Garcia, a/k/a "Aquiles." This partnership is a credit to President Trump's and Attorney General Bondi's vision of the complete eradication of foreign terrorist organizations.

In 2014, the Arzate-Garcia brothers were charged in the Southern District of California with drug trafficking offenses in separate indictments and have been fugitives since that time.

After that, La Rana has taken a greater role in the Sinaloa Cartel and is one of the cartel's most prolific drug traffickers and enforcers.

The new indictment unsealed this morning adds far more serious allegations. La Rana is charged with narco-terrorism, material support of terrorism, conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, international conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, marijuana, and money laundering.

You'll hear shortly about the specific ways that La Rana has brutally controlled the Tijuana Plazas for the Sinaloa Cartel through intimidation and bloodshed. These charges reflect the devastating harm inflicted on communities on both sides of the border - through violence, addiction, and intimidation.

As we can all see, the remaining free members of the Sinaloa cartel have become liabilities to one another. Each knows too much about the other. In that world, betrayal is not a question of if - but when.

To those cartel leaders that remain at large, here's the question: Who can you trust when you can't trust anyone? When the fear you once used to control others now controls you.

Because for those who remain at large:

Hide. Run. Fight. Flee.

The illusion is that you have a choice. The reality is simple: surrender to justice or you'll be brought to justice.

What unites us in law enforcement is a belief in the rule of law - and in the inevitability of justice. Today, we reaffirm that commitment. The rule of law does not blink. It does not back down.

To describe the indictment in detail, I'd ask Assistant United States Attorney Josh Mellor to come up.

END