Officers from the State Citizen Security Force (FESC) captured five members of a criminal cell linked to the Sinaloa Cartel in Tijuana—specifically, the faction commanded by Alfonso Arzate García (“El Aquiles”), an operative for whom the U.S. government offers a $5 million reward.
The arrest took place at 8:39 PM on October 4, 2026, on Lorenzo Barcelata Street in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood, during preventive patrols. Officers spotted a group of individuals at the location; one of the men threw a bag onto the ground in an attempt to distance himself from the narcotics he was carrying.
After stopping the group, security forces seized doses of a white powder resembling cocaine from each of the individuals involved. The detainees were identified as:
April Nicole Rodríguez Reyes, 19, originally from Los Angeles, California
Felipe de Jesús Sifuentes Medina, 21, originally from Tijuana, Baja California
Pedro López González, 60, originally from the state of Chihuahua
Manuel Alberto Ayala Bañuelos, 52, originally from the state of Sinaloa
Felipe de Jesús Sifuentes Pacheco, 55, originally from Tijuana, Baja California
At the time of his capture, Felipe de Jesús Sifuentes Medina was carrying five bags of narcotics, while two doses were seized from each of the other four individuals. During the operation, Sifuentes Medina stated he was a member of the criminal organization led by Alfonso Arzate García (“El Aquiles”)—a ringleader identified by both Mexican federal and U.S. authorities alongside his brother René Arzate García (“La Rana”) and Juan José Ponce Félix (“El Ruso”). All three appear on watchlists maintained by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Security agencies have identified the five detainees as the individuals who directly carried out a homicide and subsequent dismemberment earlier that day in the same border area. The crime resulted in two separate discoveries documented by the police:
The discovery of a severed head accompanied by a banner bearing threats on Bellas Artes Street, in the Garita de Otay neighborhood.
The discovery of the torso and the rest of the body, wrapped in a carpet, on José López Portillo Avenue, in front of the building at number 246 in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood.
According to information provided during the arrest, the victim was beheaded and dismembered in an apartment located at the rear of a building—characterized by a pink façade and blue security bars—on Lorenzo Barcelata Street, next to lot number 43 in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood.
The cell operated as a shock troop and engaged in retail drug sales at strategic locations, such as 40 Lorenzo Barcelata Street, Sor Juana Street (next to a commercial establishment), and the area surrounding the Otay border crossing. Their activities included carrying out homicides, suppressing rival groups, and extorting protection money from merchants in the Módulos de Otay area. During the routine search following their arrest in the act, officers found various video files and images on the suspects’ mobile phones documenting their involvement in homicides and the mutilation of corpses.
The four men and the woman, along with the seized drugs and mobile devices, were turned over to the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) for the preparation of the case file regarding charges of drug-related offenses, aggravated homicide, and organized crime.
