The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced significant actions against fuel smuggling and tax evasion schemes linked to the violent drug cartel Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), sanctioning two Mexican nationals and nine entities, while also issuing a financial alert. These measures aim to disrupt a major revenue stream for the cartel, which generates tens of millions of dollars annually through cross-border illicit fuel operations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva and J. Refugio Ruiz Villagomez, along with seven Mexican companies and one UK-based entity, for their involvement in the CJNG-linked fuel theft enterprise. Juraidini, described as an accountant and financial mastermind, is accused of creating shell companies and falsifying customs documents to evade Mexican import taxes. Ruiz Villagomez is implicated in smuggling fuel from the U.S. into Mexico without proper permits, paying fees to cartels controlling border entry points.
Concurrently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a supplemental Alert, providing financial institutions with guidance on typologies and red flags associated with CJNG and other Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations smuggling fuel from the United States into Mexico. This alert highlights schemes involving Mexican tax evasion, known as "fiscal fuel theft" or "huachicol fiscal."
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent emphasized the broader implications of these actions, stating, "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." He added that these efforts advance the Trump Administration's priority of dismantling such organizations.
The operation involved extensive collaboration between OFAC, FinCEN, and a South Texas Homeland Security Task Force, including agencies like the DEA, HSI, FBI, IRS-CI, BIS, and CBP. The Government of Mexico’s financial intelligence unit, Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF), also jointly developed the sanctions.
"Huachicol" activities, encompassing fuel and oil theft in Mexico, crude oil smuggling into the U.S., and fuel smuggling from the U.S. into Mexico with tax evasion, represent the most significant non-drug revenue source for Mexican cartels. These schemes involve bribing officials, illegally tapping pipelines, and using complicit U.S. and Mexican companies to divert fuel and evade Mexico's Impuesto Especial sobre Producción y Servicios (IEPS) import tax. Illicit profits are laundered through various means, including luxury goods, real estate, and investments, and are reportedly used to influence Mexican political campaigns.
All property and interests in property of the designated persons and entities within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and transactions by U.S. persons involving these blocked entities are generally prohibited. Violations can lead to civil or criminal penalties, and foreign financial institutions risk secondary sanctions for facilitating significant transactions on behalf of designated persons.