With at least three identities, ties to security forces, and a trail of violence across the Valle de Mexicali and San Luis Río Colorado, El Ruso has repeatedly evaded justice.
Los Ángeles Press
The U.S. government is offering a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to the capture or conviction of Juan José Ponce Félix, better known as "El Ruso." He is considered a high-ranking operator within the Sinaloa Cartel, with influence stretching from the Mexicali Valley to northwestern Sonora—particularly in San Luis Río Colorado, one of the cities hardest hit by violence in Mexico, as reported by Los Ángeles Press.
Ponce Félix, who also uses the aliases Jesús Alexandro Sánchez Félix and Miguel Ángel Gaxiola Quintero, has been identified by the DEA and FBI as the founding leader of Los Rusos, the armed wing of La Mayiza, a breakaway faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. According to U.S. authorities, El Ruso oversees the trafficking of fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamines from northwestern Mexico into the United States.
A History of Impunity on Mexican Soil
Despite El Ruso's extensive criminal record, his arrest has not been a priority for Mexican authorities. In May 2021, he was reportedly spotted at a taco stand in Mexicali alongside an armed group, according to Los Ángeles Press. Municipal police responded to the scene, but the arrival of the Army and National Guard thwarted the arrest attempt. It was later reported that an $80,000 bribe was allegedly offered to law enforcement officers. While some of his associates were detained, all were released the next day due to procedural errors in the official police report (IPH). The case nJuan José Ponce Dever went to trial.
Three years later, in January 2024, his sister, Xóchitl Harumi Sánchez Félix, was arrested during a State Civil Security Force (FESC) operation in Ejido Kilómetro 57, also in the Mexicali Valley. Although the group was charged with possession of weapons restricted to the military, a federal judge ordered their immediate release after determining that they had been unlawfully detained inside a private residence, without a warrant, and that at least two male detainees showed visible signs of torture. The judge ruled the arrest illegal, rendering the evidence inadmissible and the actions of the agents unjustified.
Both failed attempts exposed the Mexican state’s unwillingness—or inability—to legally sustain the arrests of key organized crime figures, even in cases of apparent flagrancy or solid evidence. In each instance, FESC and the corresponding prosecutors failed to provide legal justification for their actions or uphold the legality of the detentions in court.
Miguel Alemán neighborhood, located in the Mexicali Valley and home to the narco-cemetery linked to Los Rusos, is just 12.5 kilometers from San Luis Río Colorado. Source: Los Ángeles Press.
A Trail of Violence in San Luis Río Colorado
El Ruso’s name is also tied to a surge of violence, particularly in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, where he operates with apparent impunity despite the presence of military forces and the National Guard. Multiple reports by Los Angeles Press have linked the criminal cell led by Juan José Ponce Félix to at least 412 homicides over the past two years, as he expands his territorial control across the northern Mexicali Valley and northwestern Sonora.
The violence has become so pervasive that even a local human rights activist assisting families of El Ruso’s alleged victims was forced to flee the country and seek exile in the United States.
Among El Ruso’s key allies are Lieutenant Juan Carlos Mendoza Ortiz and his second-in-command, José Rogelio Hernández Vázquez, both members of Mexico’s National Guard. They have been formally accused — as well as named in narcomantas (drug cartel banners) — of carrying out extrajudicial killings, home raids, sexual abuse, and direct collaboration with El Ruso’s criminal organization. These banners have revealed operational structures, vehicle plate numbers, and the specific areas under their control.
Despite the presence of two military garrisons and a National Guard base in San Luis Río Colorado, the arrest of El Ruso has not been a priority for the Sonora State Prosecutor’s Office or federal security forces. The municipality, home to just 199,000 people, ranks among the most violent in the country — its population living under the constant threat of a growing narco-state.
The file of Juan José Ponce Félix, alias "El Ruso," and, highlighted in red, the military security facilities in San Luis Río Colorado, a city of 199,000 inhabitants. Source: Los Ángeles Press.
In the United States, Ponce Félix faces multiple charges including organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, and illegal possession of firearms in the Central and Southern Districts of California. The $5 million reward is intended to encourage information that could lead to his arrest or conviction on U.S. soil, following the formal designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
U.S. authorities are urging anyone with information that could assist in locating “El Ruso” to contact the DEA confidentially at: +52-55 2312 3768 or by email at [email protected].
All tips will be handled with strict confidentiality, and anonymity is guaranteed for informants.
