Baja California state police arrested two members of the Los Rusos Sinaloa Cartel faction on June 8 in Tijuana’s Venustiano Carranza neighborhood, seizing a loaded pistol, nearly three kilos of drugs, and extra ammunition magazines.
Officers from the FESC (Fuerza Estatal de Seguridad Ciudadana) stopped Carlos Alberto, 42, and José Luis, 28, on Avenida 86. Both men are from Mexicali. Police found them carrying methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana totaling close to three kilograms, along with a handgun and multiple loaded magazines.
Connection to April Police Substation Attack
Authorities say the two men belong to the same criminal cell led by a figure known as “El Mike de la Carranza,” a Los Rusos leader arrested in April. That earlier operation targeted a party in the Carranza neighborhood and resulted in 28 detentions. During the April raid, members of the cell opened fire on a police substation.
El Mike de la Carranza and another cell leader known as “El Walo” were subsequently charged in connection with a March 2025 murder. The June 8 arrests extend a crackdown on the group that has now stretched over two months.
Federal and State Charges Filed
Carlos Alberto and José Luis have been turned over to the FGR (Fiscalía General de la República), Mexico’s federal prosecutor’s office, on drug trafficking and weapons charges. The state attorney general’s office, the FGE (Fiscalía General del Estado), will separately pursue charges related to their alleged role in the April attack on police.
Los Rusos is the armed wing of “La Mayiza,” a Sinaloa Cartel faction loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is currently facing trial in the United States. The group controls drug smuggling routes across Baja California and has been locked in a territorial war with the rival “Los Chapitos” faction since 2019. In February 2025, a U.S. citizen named Scott Harvey Daniel Lee Thompson was arrested at the El Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana attempting to smuggle an arsenal of weapons to Los Rusos, a case that drew national attention to the group’s cross-border supply lines.
Ongoing Pressure in Carranza Corridor
The Venustiano Carranza neighborhood sits in eastern Tijuana, well away from the tourist zones near the border crossing and Avenida Revolución. The area has been a focal point for cartel activity tied to Los Rusos operations in the city.
The arrests were first reported by Punto Norte.