McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions against individuals and businesses allegedly involved in a drug trafficking and fuel theft network for the Jalisco cartel.
The sanctions target three Mexican brothers and two Mexican-based entities: a leader of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cesar Morfin Morfin, and his brothers Alvaro Noe Morfin Morfin and Remigio Morfin Morfin, as well as two hazardous material companies that work with the cartel to transport fuel and crude oil into the U.S.
In addition to drugs, fuel theft and the smuggling stolen crude oil from Mexico across the Southwest border generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the department says.
“Fuel theft and crude oil smuggling are cash cows for CJNG’s narco-terrorist enterprise, providing a lucrative revenue stream for the group and enabling it to wreak havoc in Mexico and the United States,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
In February, the Trump administration named CJNG a foreign terrorist organization.
Fuel theft, including the smuggling of crude oil, in Mexico is called huachicol. It is “the most significant non-drug revenue source for Mexican cartels and other illicit actors,” the department said.
Those who steal the crude oil are called huachicoleros and do so using a variety of means to take from Mexico’s state-owned energy company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). This includes through bribery, corruption of Pemex employees, illegally drilling into pipelines, stealing from refineries, hijacking tanker trucks and threatening Pemex employees.
Stolen fuel is sold on the black market in Mexico, the United States and throughout Central America and is smuggled into the United States often under the label of “waste oil” to avoid inspection or further scrutiny, the agency says.
Under the sanctions announced Thursday, all U.S. property and interests in property and businesses owned by 50% or more of those listed are blocked.
“Treasury, as part of the administration’s whole-of-government effort, will continue to use all available tools to relentlessly target drug cartels and foreign terrorist organizations to make America safe again,” Bessent said.
National Border Patrol Council President Paul Anthony Perez praised the announcement Thursday.
“Taking on the cartels and their illicit financial networks will have a devastating and crippling effect on their ability to operate in the United States. When President Trump took the oath of office, the criminal cartels were put on notice that their days were numbered. These actions today will ensure that the cartels no longer have the ability to provide unlimited funds to further their criminal enterprises and, at the same time, it will allow the United States Government to disrupt their daily activities on both sides of the border,” Perez said.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@borderReport.com.
