Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, the Sinaloa Cartel co-founder who was arrested in 2024 after he was kidnapped in Mexico and flown to the United States, was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. on Monday, 11 months after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.
By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
Janero Van de Mario Garrett, a U.S. citizen allegedly linked to the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested by Mexican security forces in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, announced security minister Omar García Harfuch this morning.
Who is “Carlitos Rugrats”?
Carlos Páez Pereda, a.k.a. "Carlitos" or "Carlitos Rugrats," born on September 27, 1995, is a high-ranking lieutenant within the Mayito Flaco faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Before the Sinaloa Cartel civil war erupted, he began his criminal career by carrying out assassinations and other violent acts on behalf of René Arzate García, a.k.a. "La Rana," operating primarily in the Mexicali Valley under the Sinaloa Cartel.
Little is known about Carlitos before his emergence as one of the Sinaloa Cartel's high-ranking figures during the civil war. His rise followed the assassination of Juan Luis Castro Morales, the former commander and chief of sicarios for "Los Chapitos," on January 6, 2025, an operation attributed to his armed wing, "Los Rugrats."
The group's branding derives from the cartoon character Carlitos Baldosa, known in English as Chuckie Finster from Rugrats. Under this identity, Carlitos rose within the organization and consolidated his position as a trusted member of the Mayito Flaco faction.
The Big Prize
On July 3, 2025, authorities in the Dominican Republic—including the Policía Nacional and the Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas (DNCD), in coordination with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—launched a major operation targeting the Mayito Flaco faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, its armed wing known as "Los Rugrats," and several of its senior members: Carlos Alberto Páez Pereda, Luis Alfonso Páez Pereda, Daniel Hiram Jáquez Ortega, and César Eduardo González Zavala.
During 2024, the Dominican Republic seized 37.7 tons of cocaine. Most of those seizures occurred at the Port of Caucedo, a strategic maritime hub located in Boca Chica, approximately 15 miles (25 km) east of Santo Domingo. The country's largest cocaine seizure, totaling 9.8 tons, involved a shipment originating in Colombia while en route to the Port of Antwerp in Belgium. It was discovered inside a shipping container at the Port of Caucedo near the capital, Santo Domingo. These seizures underscore the strategic importance of the Dominican Republic as a key transit hub within the cocaine trafficking routes linking South America and Europe.
Given that no major drug trafficking routes were previously known to be under "Carlitos'" control, this rapid rise appears to have been granted directly by Mayito Flaco in recognition of the loyalty demonstrated during the Sinaloa Cartel civil war and the significant blow inflicted on Los Chapitos by "Los Rugrats." It also appears to have been intended to help finance the costly conflict still unfolding in Sinaloa. More broadly, it suggests that the Mayito Flaco faction, despite the schism within the cartel, prefers to outsource services to trusted associates instead of trying to control everything directly, which suggests its great capacity to rebuild itself and expand its operations into foreign markets.
The Hunting Begins
On September 18, 2025, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Carlitos, designating him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The action also targeted five individuals and 15 companies connected to the Mayito Flaco faction and one of the principal drug trafficking networks operating along the southern corridor linking Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California, the Sinaloa Cartel's primary synthetic drug trafficking route into the United States.
In this designation, U.S. authorities identified "Carlitos" as the leader of the armed wing "Los Rugrats," as well as a fentanyl producer and one of the principal narcotics traffickers operating in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The designation also included Juan José Ponce Félix (a.k.a. Jesús Alexandro Sánchez Félix, commonly known as "El Ruso"), another key figure in the fentanyl trafficking network.
The Major Leagues
On July 7, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California indicted "Carlitos" on charges of narcoterrorism and providing material support to terrorism for his role in trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the United States. Prosecutors also alleged that he operated "a prolific manufacturing and distribution network for the Mayo Zambada faction of the Sinaloa Cartel" and enforced the cartel's operations in Sinaloa and Tijuana "through murder, kidnappings, and other violent activity, using a group of armed fighters and hitmen."
Based on publicly available information, "Carlitos" appears to manage and control a portion of the fentanyl trafficking corridor into the United States. His role spans multiple stages of the fentanyl supply chain: receiving synthetic precursors from Asia through the Port of Manzanillo, Colima; overseeing fentanyl cooking in Sinaloa; moving M30 fentanyl pills through Sinaloa and Sonora for storage in Baja California; and ultimately trafficking them into California.
What's Next for "Carlitos" and "Los Rugrats"?
The United States' commitment to reducing the flow of fentanyl suggests that, once Carlitos emerged as a significant figure in the fentanyl route into the United States, the security agencies showed a very quick response by identifying and designating him and his principal associates with narcoterrorism. Combined with the upcoming U.S. elections, this pressure is likely to remain focused on fentanyl trafficking networks operating in Mexico.
Even if Carlitos is killed or captured by the Mexican government, his legacy will prevail. Los Rugrats have demonstrated considerable resilience by controlling multiple stages of the international drug trafficking supply chain—from receiving cocaine shipments from South America and send them to Europe, to manufacturing fentanyl in Sinaloa and trafficking it into the United States—while maintaining an armed wing of hitmen specializing in urban warfare. Collectively, these capabilities position Los Rugrats among the Sinaloa Cartel's most significant criminal organizations.
Sources: justice.gov - fbi.gov - dea.gov - Pie de Nota - treasury.gov - insightcrime.org - dncd.gob.do
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
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| A burned out vehicle where nine members of the Lebaron family were killed by La Linea in 2019. |
The U.S. Department of State yesterday designated the Juárez Cartel and Los Viagras as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), bringing the total number of Mexican criminal groups on the list to eight.
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
Ernesto Ruffo Appel, former governor of Baja California state, was arrested by Mexico's Attorney's General Office (FGR) in Ensenada, Baja California on charges related to organized crime, fuel theft, and tax evasion through Ingemar, a firm founded by Ruffo.
“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
The State Attorney General’s Office (FGJE) destroyed, by incineration, various narcotics seized during operations related to 64 Single Investigation Files (CUI).
The destruction was carried out under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and forensic experts, with the following quantities recorded:
* 3,099 g of marijuana.
* 338.1 g of methamphetamine.
* 16.5 g of cocaine.
“Through these coordinated actions among law enforcement agencies at all three levels of government, the FGJE reaffirms its commitment to removing illicit substances from circulation, strengthening the administration of justice, and contributing to the creation of a safer Zacatecas,” they stated in a press release.
Source: NTR Zacatecas
By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
By "El Huaso: for Borderland Beat
Eight corpses were found Tuesday morning beside the federal highway to Jitotla in El Bosque municipality, with a narco message threatening all "distributors, manufacturers, and dealers of meth".
