Mexican forces arrest CJNG operator tied to multimillion-dollar fuel scheme

2015 helicopter attack that killed 10 Mexican security personnel linked to Cazarín

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed Tuesday that Iván Cazarín Molina, a regional operator for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel known as “El Tanque,” was arrested Oct. 5 in Zapopan, Jalisco, during a joint federal operation. Mexican authorities have identified Cazarín as a regional CJNG operator active in Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla.

The arrest is drawing attention to fuel theft — known locally as huachicol — as a multimillion-dollar revenue source for one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, according to U.S. Treasury records and Mexican authorities. The Treasury Department had already sanctioned Cazarín in September 2024, identifying him as a senior CJNG member who reported directly to cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” and who operated a fuel theft network that generated tens of millions of dollars annually for the organization.

The network stole fuel from Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Pemex, by illegally tapping pipelines and storing the product in large tanks near the city of Veracruz, according to Treasury. Stolen fuel was then sold through a network of gas stations controlled by Cazarín and his associates, or distributed in Mexico, the United States and Central America, Treasury said.

Treasury has described fuel theft as the most significant non-drug source of revenue for Mexican cartels and other criminal groups, with the schemes costing the Mexican government billions of dollars in lost revenue. In May 2025, the department announced additional sanctions against another CJNG fuel theft network and warned financial institutions about schemes used to smuggle stolen Mexican crude oil across the U.S. southwest border. That earlier network generated hundreds of millions of dollars annually through fuel theft, crude oil smuggling and drug trafficking, Treasury said at the time.

Cazarín’s network also relied on relatives and associates, according to Treasury. His brother, César Cazarín Molina, known as “Tornado,” and his father-in-law, Domingo Medina Díaz, known as “El Mingo,” received shares of the fuel profits even while incarcerated in Mexico.

Mexican authorities have linked Cazarín to a broader range of alleged crimes across his regional base of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla, including homicides, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, and drug and weapons trafficking. He has also been linked to a 2015 attack in which CJNG gunmen shot down a Mexican Air Force helicopter during an operation targeting Oseguera Cervantes in Jalisco. Nine soldiers and a federal police officer were killed in that attack.

The arrest was carried out by Mexican Army special forces and an operations group from the SSPC, Mexico’s Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, with intelligence from the National Intelligence Center and investigative work by the SSPC and the Attorney General’s Office criminal investigation agency, according to García Harfuch. Authorities seized a vehicle, a firearm, drugs and other evidence during the operation, and Cazarín was apprehended in flagrancia — the Mexican legal term for being caught in the act. He has been transferred to the Federal Specialized Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office (FEMDO), where his legal status will be determined.

García Harfuch thanked Mexican and U.S. authorities for the operation, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which exchanged information with Mexican officials based on the prior Treasury sanctions. The Mexican security secretary also thanked the governors of Veracruz and Jalisco, Rocío Nahle and Pablo Lemus, for their support.