Mexican authorities announced Tuesday that they had arrested a notorious alleged member of the Jalisco drug cartel known by the nickname “The Tank.”
Omar Garcia Harfuch, Mexico’s security secretary, identified the suspect in a post on X as Iván Cazarín Molina.
The United States sanctioned Molina in 2024 over his alleged role in fuel theft linked to the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Mexican authorities detained him in Zapopan and coordinated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Omar Garcia Harfuch, secretary of security and citizen protection, speaks during a press conference in Mexico City on Feb. 23, 2026, following the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. (Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Investigations link him to homicides, extortion, illegal deprivation of liberty, hydrocarbon theft, money laundering and drug trafficking,” Harfuch said in a statement. He also faces accusations of involvement in the 2015 attack on a Mexican Army helicopter in Jalisco, an incident that killed members of the Army and Federal Police.
During the operation, authorities confiscated a vehicle, a firearm and various drugs.
Harfuch said the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Molina in September 2024 because of his ties to the CJNG and identified him as a member of the inner circle of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho.” That designation prompted an exchange of information with the DEA. Molina will be transferred to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime Matters, known as FEMDO, where prosecutors will determine his legal status under Mexican law.
Investigative police officers stand guard outside the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime of the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The arrest came about a week after the United States announced broad sanctions targeting a Sinaloa cartel network accused of corrupting Mexican officials near the U.S. border.
Los Mayos, a powerful Sinaloa cartel faction, and its U.S.-born leader are accused of moving fentanyl and drug proceeds through California. The group is also accused of employing hitmen to assassinate rivals on U.S. soil.
According to material obtained exclusively by News Outlet before its public release Tuesday, the Treasury Department plans to sanction 21 people and 25 entities as part of an effort to disrupt Los Mayos and its alleged criminal operations in the United States.
The Treasury Department describes U.S.-born Ismael “Mayito Flaco” Zambada Sicairos as the “undisputed head” of the Sinaloa cartel’s Los Mayos faction following the arrest of his father, longtime kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia. (U.S. Department of the Treasury)
The sanctions target Ismael Zambada Sicairos, known as “Mayito Flaco,” a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen born in Anaheim, California, whom the Treasury Department has called the “undisputed head” of Los Mayos.
