US authorities have offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of René Arzate-García, a senior Sinaloa Cartel figure known as 'La Rana'. The 41-year-old faces charges of narcoterrorism, drug trafficking and money-laundering in a superseding indictment announced last Thursday by the US Department of Justice.
Arzate-García is believed to have begun his criminal career as a teenager in Tijuana before rising to become the cartel's plaza boss in the north-western Mexican state of Baja California. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has also offered a reward of up to $5 million for his brother, Alfonso 'Aquiles' Arzate-García.
René Arzate-García has a daughter with Valeria Rubí Quiroz, also known as 'La Gringuita', who previously had a relationship with Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán. Speaking on the Gusgri Podcast in March 2024, Quiroz described Arzate-García as 'my prince, my one true love' and said their daughter is named Mía Ener – 'Ener' being 'René' spelt backwards.
The relationship ended after a magazine falsely linked Quiroz to boxer Saúl 'Canelo' Álvarez, a scandal she says damaged their bond. 'I never had anything with him,' she said of Álvarez. 'I understand why René got angry.' Quiroz said she lost touch with Arzate-García soon after but hopes their daughter will one day meet him.
The Arzate-García brothers were first indicted in the Southern District of California in 2014. Their whereabouts remain unknown. The latest indictment is part of a broader crackdown on drug cartels by the US government, which last year designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.
Separately, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes – known as 'El Mencho' – was killed last month in a firefight with Mexican authorities. More than 60 people, including soldiers and cartel members, died in the violence.
