The United States Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on 30 June against two Mexican nationals and nine corporate entities accused of operating a transnational fuel smuggling network that channels illicit revenue to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva and J. Refugio Ruiz Villagómez, along with eight Mexican firms and one company registered in the United Kingdom, for their roles in a scheme that evaded Mexico’s special tax on fuel imports (IEPS) through falsified customs documents, shell companies, and bribery. In a parallel move, Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) froze the bank accounts of the named individuals and entities, and added nine additional persons to its own blocked list after identifying discrepancies in their tax and financial records.

Viewed from Washington, the action underscores a strategic shift in the cartels’ revenue model. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the designations highlight how Mexican criminal organisations are expanding beyond traditional drug trafficking to generate income, while continuing to traffic deadly narcotics into the United States. Ambassador Ronald Johnson, writing on social media, framed the sanctions as proof of joint resolve under Presidents Trump and Sheinbaum to hold accountable those who profit from fuel theft, arms trafficking, and drug smuggling. The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) simultaneously issued a bank alert detailing 22 red-flag indicators for detecting such schemes, noting that in the twelve months following a previous alert it received over 160 suspicious activity reports linked to fuel smuggling, with flows totalling more than $7 billion.

The sanctioned network, according to OFAC, purchased gasoline, diesel, and other refined products from complicit distributors in Texas and other US states, then transported the fuel into Mexico using falsified import documentation that misclassified the cargo as waste oil or industrial lubricants to avoid the IEPS. The fuel was then sold through formally established service stations, generating tens of millions of dollars annually for the CJNG. The Treasury’s public statement also described a broader pattern in which Mexican cartels use black-market fuel profits to make cash payments to political campaigns and media outlets, aiming to install cooperative officials who can facilitate smuggling operations and grant access to state contracts for laundering proceeds. No specific link was drawn between the sanctioned individuals and particular politicians.

Analysts in Mexico City note that the CJNG, designated a foreign terrorist organisation by Washington last year, has become the country’s most expansive criminal group, with a presence in 21 of 32 states. The cartel suffered a leadership blow in February when its founder, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (“El Mencho”), was killed in a military operation, and a potential successor was arrested in April. Fuel theft and contraband now represent the single largest non-drug income stream for Mexican cartels, with public reports cited by the Treasury estimating that between one-quarter and one-third of all fuel sold in Mexico may be of illicit origin. The dossier remains active: both US and Mexican financial intelligence units continue to monitor transactions, and further designations are expected as the bilateral investigation proceeds.