The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on two Mexican men and nine companies involved in transportation, financial services and real estate, accusing them of being tied to a cartel-linked fuel theft ring intended to evade Mexican taxes while generating tens of millions of dollars annually for the cartel.
Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert to financial institutions that points out red flags of fuel smuggling from the U.S. into Mexico in schemes involving Mexican tax evasion.
"Today's action highlights the extent to which Mexico's cartels are expanding beyond traditional drug trafficking to generate revenue for their criminal organizations, which continue to traffic deadly drugs that kill Americans," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has acknowledged the New Generation Cartel's presence in 21 of Mexico's 32 states, surpassing the Sinaloa Cartel, which is estimated to operate in 19 states, and last year President Trump designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and five other Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Mexican authorities have in recent years seized million gallons of stolen diesel, gasoline and petroleum distillates from states bordering Texas, the report said, and organized crime taps pipelines and diverts fuel to service stations forced to buy from cartels or sell it directly in the streets; U.S. authorities have even accused the Jalisco New Generation cartel of operating its own service stations.
Last month a U.S. federal grand jury expanded charges against the cartel's second-in-command, known as "The Gardener," accusing him of methamphetamine trafficking and conspiracy to launder money.
Mexican drug kingpin Audias Flores Silva was arrested on April 27 in the western state of Nayarit in an operation by Mexican Navy special forces based on information provided by U.S. agencies.
Flores Silva was seen as a possible successor to Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or "El Mencho," who was killed in a dramatic military operation in February; the killing of "El Mencho" led to a surge of cartel violence with a wave of attacks on businesses by cartel gunmen, vehicle burnings and road blockades that killed more than 70 people, including 25 National Guard members.