‘El Serafín,’ 21, Arrested in Tijuana, Across From San Diego, in Killing of State Officer — Police Say He Claimed 35+ Killings for U.S.-Sanctioned Sinaloa Cartel Lieutenant ‘El Ranchero’
Baja California state police on Monday, Oct. 6, 2026, arrested Jorge Said Salgado Mendoza, a 21-year-old known as “El Serafín,” in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, and named him as the suspected killer of state officer Óscar Arturo Arellano Moreno, according to Semanario Zeta and Infobae. Both outlets report that, after his arrest, he told officers he works for the Sinaloa Cartel cell of Franklin Ernesto Huezo Hernández, “El Ranchero,” a lieutenant the U.S. Treasury sanctioned on Sept. 29, and that he has taken part in more than 35 killings. None of that has been tested in court, and he is presumed innocent.
The arrest on Calle Amanecer
Zeta reported that a resident called in three men, one of them armed, in the Terrazas de San Bernardo neighborhood. When officers of the state force, the Fuerza Estatal de Seguridad Ciudadana (FESC), and federal SSPC agents arrived after 11 a.m., Salgado Mendoza tried to get into a house and was stopped. Police listed a rifle, a 40-round double-drum magazine, an 8-round magazine, a tactical vest and a bag of suspected methamphetamine.
Zeta said he had three outstanding homicide warrants and earlier records for weapons possession, property damage and homicide. Two other men were detained with him: Jesús González Rodríguez, born in Guanajuato in 2001, and José de la Cruz Salgado Sotelo, born in Guerrero in 1976.
The officer’s killing
Arellano Moreno, an FESC officer, was shot several times on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in the Nuevo Milenio neighborhood of Tijuana, Zeta and Infobae report. Infobae said he was inside a private vehicle and that a woman with him was wounded and survived. Zeta reported that before his death Arellano had been named in threatening banners. The banners’ accusations against him were never proven.
Where ‘El Ranchero’ fits
Treasury lists El Ranchero as one of three main lieutenants for brothers René and Alfonso Arzate García, “La Rana” and “Aquiles,” who run the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel in Tijuana. Treasury says the three carry out violence and move fentanyl through Tijuana into the United States. Police were searching for El Ranchero last week when they rearrested another alleged cell member, “El 500,” in Rosarito. El Ranchero has not been reported captured. For border-crossing context, see our Tijuana–San Diego safety page.
Sources
- Semanario Zeta, “Detiene FESC a sicario del CDS; participó en asesinato de agente Arellano,” Oct. 6, 2026: zetatijuana.com
- Infobae (Juan Castillo), “Detienen en Tijuana a ‘El Serafín’…,” Oct. 6–7, 2026: infobae.com
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, press release on Los Mayos sanctions, Sept. 29, 2026: home.treasury.gov
- Photos: Baja California Security Secretariat (SSBC) handout and U.S. Treasury (OFAC) chart, both via Infobae.
Reported Oct. 7, 2026, from Zeta, Infobae and U.S. Treasury material. The cartel ties and the 35-killing figure come from statements authorities say Salgado Mendoza made after his arrest, as reported by the media; they have not been proven, and no judge had ruled on charges at publication.