Baja California state police arrested two American citizens identified as cartel hitmen on June 10 in Tijuana’s Los Laureles neighborhood. The men were driving a stolen gray Audi A4 with California license plates when officers pulled them over and found a 7.62x33mm rifle inside the vehicle.
Isaac Eduardo, 24, from Santa Barbara, California, and Joshua Steven, 18, from Los Angeles, both face federal weapons charges. Authorities say intelligence reports link the pair to the supervision of drug sales points in the Los Laureles and Playas de Tijuana neighborhoods. Both men are also suspected of carrying out kidnappings and killings on behalf of a criminal organization.
Active Homicide Warrant for 18-Year-Old Suspect
Joshua Steven, the younger of the two, had an active arrest warrant for aggravated homicide at the time of his detention. That warrant will be handled by the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), which will also pursue existing investigations into kidnapping, murder, and drug distribution tied to both suspects.
Federal prosecutors at the FGR (Fiscalía General de la República) took custody of both men on the weapons charges stemming from the rifle found in the stolen Audi. The division of the case between state and federal authorities is standard procedure when arrests involve both firearms violations and outstanding state warrants.
A Pattern of US-Born Recruits in Tijuana Cartels
The arrests fit a documented pattern of U.S.-born or U.S.-based individuals being recruited into Tijuana’s cartel networks. Earlier this month, Baja California state police arrested another suspected hitman in Tijuana who allegedly charged 20,000 pesos (roughly $1,200) per killing and also carried an active murder warrant.
Tijuana has consistently ranked among the most violent cities in the Western Hemisphere. The violence is driven largely by territorial wars between rival organizations fighting for control of fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking routes into the United States. In February, the U.S. State Department offered up to $10 million for information on two brothers identified as Sinaloa Cartel leaders controlling the Tijuana plaza.
Los Laureles sits in eastern Tijuana, while Playas de Tijuana is a coastal neighborhood popular with both locals and visitors, located just south of the border fence near Imperial Beach. The fact that both areas are named as zones where the suspects allegedly oversaw drug sales points shows how cartel operations extend into residential parts of the city.
This story was first reported by Punto Norte on June 10, 2026.