Mexican security forces have arrested an alleged senior operator of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel whom United States authorities accuse of running a lucrative fuel-smuggling network and financing organized crime through drug trafficking, extortion and other illegal activities. Iván Cazarín Molina, known as “El Tanque,” or “The Tank,” was captured October 5 in Zapopan in the western state of Jalisco, Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced on his social media X account.
The operation involved Mexican military forces, the National Guard and federal security and investigative agencies, including the National Intelligence Center and the Federal Attorney General’s Office. U.S. authorities also provided information to assist the investigation, according to the media outlet El País. Authorities seized a vehicle, a firearm and drugs during the arrest, Mexico News Daily reported.
Mexican officials describe Cazarín Molina as a regional operator of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, with operations extending across Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla. They accuse him of homicide, kidnapping, extortion, money laundering, drug trafficking and the theft and smuggling of petroleum products.
The arrest follows years of scrutiny by U.S. authorities. In September 2024, the Treasury Department sanctioned Cazarín Molina for his alleged role in the cartel’s fuel-theft business, identifying him as a member of the inner circle of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the cartel’s former leader known as “El Mencho.” The Treasury Department said in a statement reported by CBS News that “El Tanque’s fuel theft generates tens of millions of dollars per year for himself and CJNG.”
U.S. authorities alleged that Cazarín Molina operated a network of seemingly legitimate gas stations that sold stolen fuel. They also accused him of supplying stolen petroleum products to intermediaries, who resold them in the U.S., particularly in Texas.
Fuel theft has become a major source of income for criminal organizations, supplementing revenue from narcotics and extortion. The Treasury Department has described petroleum theft and crude oil smuggling as significant financial engines for the CJNG.
Cazarín Molina also is accused of involvement in a May 2015 attack on a Mexican military helicopter during an operation to capture Oseguera Cervantes. The attack, in Jalisco, killed nine members of the military and law enforcement, El País reported. Armed cartel members used roadblocks and violence to impede the security operation.
Mexican authorities have linked Cazarín Molina to other criminal investigations, including a July 2024 seizure of 6.8 tons of marijuana in Veracruz, Mexico News Daily said. In August 2026, he was connected to an alleged kidnapping for ransom involving an employee of a state-owned utility company.
The arrest comes after Oseguera Cervantes was killed in a Mexican military operation in February 2026, setting off violence and roadblocks in multiple states. The cartel remains one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations and has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s 2024 sanctions targeted Cazarín Molina and a broader network of people and companies allegedly involved in fuel smuggling and tax evasion. The measures blocked any U.S.-based assets subject to the sanctions and generally prohibited U.S. citizens from conducting business with the designated targets.
Mexican authorities have said Cazarín Molina will be transferred to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime Matters, where prosecutors will determine his legal status. Officials have not publicly detailed the charges he will face in the current case. The arrest marks another effort by Mexican authorities to target the cartel’s financial and operational networks.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent underscored the importance of disrupting the cartel’s revenue streams in a 2025 statement reported by CBS News: “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.”