Treasury Targets Criminal Facilitators Behind CJNG’s Cross‑Border Fuel Smuggling Schemes

Treasury Issues Alert on Cartel Fuel Smuggling and Tax Evasion Schemes on the U.S. Southern Border

WASHINGTON—Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) introduced a number of actions combatting gasoline smuggling schemes linked to Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a violent drug cartel designated underneath each counternarcotics and counterterrorism authorities. 

OFAC has sanctioned two Mexican nationals and 9 entities tied to a CJNG-linked gasoline theft scheme—involving cross-border smuggling, falsified customs paperwork, and shell corporations—to evade Mexican taxes whereas producing tens of tens of millions of {dollars} yearly for the cartel.  In addition, FinCEN issued a supplemental Alert offering further steerage on monetary typologies and crimson flags indicative of CJNG and different Mexico-based transnational legal organizations (TCOs) smuggling gasoline from the United States 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,” mentioned Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Treasury’s actions targeting these illicit revenue streams advance the Trump Administration’s priority of dismantling these terrorist organizations and making America safe again.”

Today’s motion displays robust collaboration between OFAC and FinCEN, and was coordinated with a South Texas Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF)-led investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), amongst others.  OFAC and FinCEN work in shut coordination with the HSTFs, which goal the proliferation of illicit medication and the networks, enablers, and monetary mechanisms that assist their manufacturing and distribution.  Today’s sanctions have been additionally developed collectively with the Government of Mexico’s monetary intelligence unit, the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF).

Among these designated is Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva, who helps CJNG in a gasoline smuggling enterprise that generates lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} annually.  FinCEN’s Alert is one in every of a number of latest FinCEN advisory and analytic merchandise on income streams and illicit exercise related to Mexico-based FTOs and different legal organizations, to incorporate the procurement of fentanyl precursor chemicals and fentanyl-related threat patterns and trends; timeshare fraud; human smuggling along the southwest border; bulk cash smuggling; Chinese money laundering networks and related threat patterns and trends; crude oil smuggling on the southwest border; cross-border funds transfers involving illegal aliens; human trafficking associated with the 2026 FIFA World Cup; and non-work authorized populations and their employers and risks to the integrity of the U.S. financial system.   

CJNG: VIOLENT DRUG CARTEL AND FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

CJNG is a U.S.-designated international terrorist group (FTO) and specifically designated world terrorist (SDGT) that’s answerable for a big proportion of fentanyl and different lethal medication trafficked into the United States.  On February 20, 2025, the Department of State designated CJNG as an FTO and SDGT.  Treasury beforehand sanctioned CJNG on April 8, 2015 pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and on December 15, 2021 pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the worldwide proliferation of illicit medication and their technique of manufacturing.  OFAC has taken quite a few actions towards CJNG-linked people and corporations for enabling drug trafficking, cash laundering, and corruption. 

In latest years, Mexico-based drug trafficking cartels like CJNG have turn out to be more and more concerned within the theft, adulteration, and smuggling of hydrocarbons, comparable to gasoline and oil, in schemes colloquially referred to in Mexico as huachicol. These schemes have grown into highly effective income turbines for CJNG by the theft of tens of billions of {dollars} in misplaced income for the Mexican authorities and have enabled CJNG campaigns of narcotics trafficking within the United States, violence towards Mexican authorities forces alongside the U.S. southwest border, and corruption inside Mexico. 

Over the final two years, OFAC has taken a collection of actions focusing on cartel involvement within the illicit follow of huachicol, together with on September 10, 2024 and on May 1, 2025.  Similarly, FinCEN’s May 2025 Alert offered monetary typologies and crimson flags indicative of crude oil smuggling schemes on the U.S. southwest border related to CJNG and different Mexico-based TCOs.  In the 12-month interval following this Alert, FinCEN obtained over 160 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that detailed over $7 billion in suspicious exercise, despatched primarily between the United States and Mexico and sometimes involving Mexican cartels, mostly CJNG.  The most typical U.S. states concerned within the SARs are Texas and Florida.  In Texas, the topics have been largely situated in cities and cities close to the U.S.–Mexico border, together with Brownsville, Mission, Eagle Pass, and McAllen with most topics concerned within the oil and pure fuel and transportation industries.

CRUDE CRIMINALS AND BEYOND:  MEXICAN NORTHBOUND OIL SMUGGLING AND SOUTHBOUND FUEL SMUGGLING

Huachicol-related actions are at the moment essentially the most important non-drug income supply for Mexican cartels and different illicit actors.  Huachicol-related actions typically embody (1) gasoline and oil theft in Mexico, (2) the smuggling of crude oil into the United States, and (3) the smuggling of gasoline from the United States into Mexico involving Mexican tax evasion schemes referred to as fiscal gasoline theft (huachicol fiscal). 

Thieves in Mexico (referred to as huachicoleros) use quite a lot of means to steal gasoline and crude oil from Mexico’s state-owned power firm, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), together with bribing corrupt Pemex workers, illegally drilling faucets into pipelines, stealing from refineries, hijacking tanker vehicles, and threatening Pemex workers.  Fuel stolen from Pemex is bought on the black market round Mexico.  As highlighted in FinCEN’s May 2025 Alert, stolen crude oil is smuggled into the United States by complicit Mexican brokers and sometimes mislabeled as “waste oil” or different hazardous materials to keep away from scrutiny and evade taxes and rules.  The oil is then delivered to complicit U.S. importers within the oil and pure fuel trade working close to the U.S. southwest border, who promote it at a steep low cost on the U.S. and world power markets earlier than repatriating the numerous illicit earnings again to the cartels in Mexico. 

As FinCEN’s supplemental Alert highlights, fiscal gasoline theft schemes contain Mexico-based cartels and their huachicoleros smuggling gasoline, diesel, naphtha, and different gasoline from the United States throughout the southern border or U.S. ports into Mexico in schemes to evade Mexico’s import tax on gasoline, referred to as Impuesto Especial sobre Producción y Servicios (IEPS). Through these schemes, the cartels use complicit Mexican buying and selling corporations (comercializadoras) with gasoline distribution permits from Mexico’s National Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía) to buy gasoline from complicit U.S. gasoline distribution corporations and difficulty false invoices to legitimize and commercialize the illicit gasoline in Mexico.  These brokers, nevertheless, lack the suitable permits from Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (Secretaría de Energía) to import gasoline into Mexico.  As a part of the scheme, complicit U.S. gasoline distributors leverage their relationships with main U.S. refineries and gasoline distributors to buy after which divert gasoline to interconnected networks of U.S. and Mexican entrance and shell corporations within the freight, logistics, and different industries earlier than it’s smuggled into Mexico through tanker vehicles, railcars, and shadow fleets of maritime vessels.  The Mexican cartels and their huachicoleros can evade the IEPS by numerous means, together with misclassifying customs documentation, bribery of presidency officers, or different strategies earlier than transporting the gasoline to storage yards underneath their management after which promoting it inside Mexico for a steep revenue by cartel-controlled or affiliated fuel stations and unregulated roadside gasoline stops.  Public reporting suggests {that a} quarter to a 3rd of all gasoline bought in Mexico could also be illicit.

According to FinCEN’s evaluation of Bank Secrecy Act reporting, the Mexican cartels primarily use the brokers and their entry to the Mexican monetary system to ship worldwide wire transfers and digital asset funds to the complicit U.S. gasoline distribution corporations for the smuggled gasoline — both immediately or by shell corporations performing as pass-through accounts.  In different circumstances, the cartels could pay the complicit U.S. gasoline distributors immediately by structured money deposits into their financial institution accounts with illicit proceeds from drug trafficking and different legal actions within the United States as a type of trade-based cash laundering.  The complicit U.S. gasoline distributors obfuscate these ill-gotten gasoline gross sales by quite a lot of cash laundering typologies together with purchases of (i) luxurious items comparable to high-end autos, high-value jewellery or unique trip leases/journey locations; (ii) actual property; and (iii) funding property.  In Mexico, the cartels use their illicit earnings from the black market gasoline gross sales to make money funds to Mexican political campaigns and media shops to assist elect corrupt Mexican politicians prepared to help the cartels management key administrative positions within the authorities, which facilitates gasoline smuggling operations and entry to state contracts to launder the illicit earnings from these schemes and different legal actions.

FRACTURING CJNG’S FUEL FACILITATORS

Building upon OFAC’s prior actions, in the present day OFAC designated Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva (Juraidini), who’s a key enterprise individual facilitating CJNG’s gasoline theft enterprise.  Juraidini operates as an accountant and the mastermind behind sure monetary operations for CJNG.  Juraidinicreates and operates shell corporations on behalf of CJNG, and falsifies customs paperwork for CJNG to help within the illicit cross-border switch of gasoline.  Juraidini imports gasoline from the United States into Mexico that’s deliberately mislabeled in customs documentation to bypass Mexican IEPS taxes.  The majority of Juraidini’s purchasers are fuel station corporations, which obtain the refined gasoline merchandise and promote them through retail fuel stations. Juraidini generates tens of tens of millions of {dollars} yearly, benefiting CJNG. 

Juraidini owns six companies in Mexico, working in transportation, monetary providers, and actual property sectors.  Juraidini’s Mexican corporations embody: Centro Cambiario La Peseta, S.A. de C.V.; OJ Living Trust, S.A.P.I. de C.V.; RK Real King, S.A. de C.V.; Soma Transporte y Servicios, S.A. de C.V.; Ogui Fletes; and OF Transportes.  In addition, Juraidini owns a enterprise primarily based within the United Kingdom, Cucumber Sweet Waves Ltd. 

OFAC designated Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva pursuant to E.O. 14059 and E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, managed, or directed by, or having acted or presupposed to act for or on behalf of, immediately or not directly, CJNG.  Additionally, OFAC designated the businesses Centro Cambiario La Peseta, S.A. de C.V.; OJ Living Trust, S.A.P.I. de C.V.; RK Real King, S.A. de C.V.; Soma Transporte y Servicios, S.A. de C.V.; Ogui Fletes; OF Transportes; and Cucumber Sweet Waves Ltd pursuant to E.O. 14059 and E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, managed, or directed by, or having acted or presupposed to act for or on behalf of, immediately or not directly, Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva.

Today, OFAC additionally designated J. Refugio Ruiz Villagomez, who performs a task in Jomadi Logistics & Cargo, S.A. de C.V. (Jomadi) and Ahavat Logistics Solution, S.A. de C.V. (Ahavat). J. Refugio Ruiz Villagomez has knowingly smuggled gasoline from the United States into Mexico with out correct permits.  He pays charges to cartels and different legal organizations that management ports of entry between the United States and Mexico.  According to investigative findings made public by Mexico’s Attorney General’s workplace, Jomadi is an import and export firm concerned in huachicol fiscal.  Jomadi and Ahavat have transacted by the U.S. monetary system to the tune of tens of tens of millions of {dollars} with third events linked to CJNG which have been concerned in huachicol-related actions. 

 

OFAC designated Jomadi Logistics & Cargo, S.A. de C.V. and Ahavat Logistics Solution, S.A. de C.V. pursuant to E.O. 14059 for having offered, or tried to supply, monetary, materials, or technological assist for, or items or providers in assist of, CJNG.  Additionally, OFAC designated Jomadi Logistics & Cargo, S.A. de C.V. and Ahavat Logistics Solution, S.A. de C.V. pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or offered monetary, materials, or technological assist for, or items or providers to or in assist of, CJNG.  OFAC additionally designated J. Refugio Ruiz Villagomez pursuant to E.O. 14059 and E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, managed, or directed by, or having acted or presupposed to act for or on behalf of, immediately or not directly, Jomadi Logistics & Cargo, S.A. de C.V. and Ahavat Logistics Solution, S.A. de C.V. 

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a results of in the present day’s motion, all property and pursuits in property of the designated or blocked individuals described above which are within the United States or within the possession or management of U.S. individuals are blocked and have to be reported to OFAC.  In addition, any entities which are owned, immediately or not directly, individually or within the mixture, 50 p.c or extra by a number of blocked individuals are additionally blocked.  Unless licensed by a basic or particular license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s rules typically prohibit all transactions by U.S. individuals or inside (or transiting) the United States that contain any property or pursuits in property of blocked individuals.

Violations of U.S. sanctions could consequence within the imposition of civil or legal penalties on U.S. and international individuals.  OFAC could impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict legal responsibility foundation.  OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines present extra info concerning OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. financial sanctions.  In addition, monetary establishments and different individuals could threat publicity to sanctions for participating in sure transactions or actions involving designated or in any other case blocked individuals.  The prohibitions embody the making of any contribution or provision of funds, items, or providers by, to, or for the advantage of any designated or blocked individual, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, items, or providers from any such individual.  Non-U.S. individuals are additionally prohibited from inflicting or conspiring to trigger U.S. individuals to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, in addition to participating in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions.  Individuals situated within the United States or overseas who present details about sanctions violations to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s whistleblower incentive program could also be eligible for awards if the data they supply results in a profitable enforcement motion that ends in financial penalties exceeding $1,000,000.

Furthermore, participating in sure transactions involving the individuals designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, could threat the imposition of secondary sanctions on taking part international monetary establishments.  OFAC can prohibit or impose strict situations on opening or sustaining, within the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a international monetary establishment that knowingly conducts or facilitates any important transaction on behalf of an individual who’s designated pursuant to the related authority.

The energy and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not solely from OFAC’s capability to designate and add individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but additionally from its willingness to take away individuals from the SDN List in keeping with the legislation.  The final objective of sanctions is to not punish, however to convey a couple of constructive change in habits.  For info regarding the course of for looking for removing from an OFAC checklist, together with the SDN List, or to submit a request, please confer with OFAC’s steerage on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.

Click here to view a chart on the persons designated today. 

Click here for more information on the persons designated today.

 

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