Treasury Says ‘Gordo Flubber’ Ordered a 2023 Tijuana Killing: Inside the Sinaloa Cartel Cell of $5 Million Fugitives ‘La Rana’ and ‘Aquiles,’ Across From San Diego
The U.S. Treasury says the Sinaloa Cartel’s grip on Tijuana, across from San Diego, rests on brothers René Arzate García, “La Rana,” and Alfonso Arzate García, “Aquiles,” three lieutenants and a money exchange, and alleges that one of those lieutenants, Pedro Humberto Martínez Rodríguez, “Gordo Flubber,” ordered the October 2023 killing of the exchange’s former owner. The allegations came Sept. 29, 2026, as Treasury sanctioned 46 people and companies tied to “Mayito Flaco” Zambada Sicairos’ Los Mayos faction.
The Tijuana plaza bosses
Treasury says the brothers have controlled the Tijuana “plaza” for 15 years through “violence, strategic alliances, and deep local influence—including political and police corruption.” A federal grand jury in San Diego indicted both in July 2014. In February 2026, the Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment charging La Rana with narco-terrorism and material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The State Department offered up to $5 million each for the brothers. Aquiles is wanted on a charge of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana, according to his reward poster. Both remain fugitives.
Treasury names three principal lieutenants: Gordo Flubber, Jesús Rafael Yocupicio Yocupicio, “El Cabezón,” and Franklin Ernesto Huezo Hernández, “El Ranchero.” It says they carry out violence for La Rana and manage fentanyl production and transport through Tijuana into the U.S.
‘Magic Casa de Cambio’ and a 2023 killing
Treasury says Gordo Flubber’s romantic partner, Ilia Elizabeth Félix Rivera, runs Galerías Centro Cambiario, known as Magic Casa de Cambio. It alleges she uses the Tijuana exchange with “complicit money exchanges in southern California” to collect bulk cash from U.S. drug sales and move it back to Mexico through mirror transactions. Treasury says the exchange’s previous owner, Félix’s ex-husband Omar Guadalupe Ayón Díaz, had been arrested for laundering more than $45 million for the cartel. It says he was murdered in Tijuana in October 2023 “on Gordo Flubber’s orders.”
Infobae, citing Semanario Zeta, reported at the time that Ayón Díaz, 44, was shot in the back of the neck inside a pickup in the Nueva Tijuana neighborhood on Oct. 7, 2023. Milenio reported on Sept. 29 that he had been arrested in Colombia in 2015, extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to 10 years. We found no public response from Félix or the exchange.
Tijuana businesses on the list
Treasury also sanctioned Tijuana-based Marco Antonio Moreno Gómez Santelices and Carlos Villela Gómez Santelices. It says they run security, real estate and entertainment companies that launder money for La Rana. It also sanctioned Jerónimo Javier Vera Ayala and Jorge Mario Vera Ayala, plus Jerónimo Vera’s companies, including Xolo Gas de Baja California. Treasury calls Jorge Vera a “liaison for all cartel activity in Tijuana.”
Sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: “Treasury Sanctions Sinaloa Cartel Leadership and Corruption Networks…” (Sept. 29, 2026)
- U.S. Department of Justice: “Sinaloa Cartel Leader Charged with Narcoterrorism, Material Support of Terrorism and Drug Trafficking” (Feb. 26, 2026)
- Milenio (Axel García): “Magic Casa de Cambio, la fachada con la que La Mayiza lava dinero” (Sept. 29, 2026)
- Infobae: “Asesinan en Tijuana a integrante del Cártel de Sinaloa que lavaba dinero en EEUU” (Oct. 8, 2023)
- Photos: U.S. Department of State Narcotics Rewards Program posters for René Arzate-García and Alfonso Arzate-García (February 2026)
Reported Sept. 29, 2026, from U.S. government releases and Mexican press reports. Sanctions and indictments are allegations, not convictions. We could not independently verify Treasury’s account of the 2023 killing.