Trump administration sanctions Mexican cartel and its leader for oil theft

The Treasury Department has imposed sanctions connected a convulsive Mexican fuel-theft cartel and its imprisoned leader, amid the Trump administration's crackdown connected cartels backing operations done stolen lipid and gas.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Guanajuato-based radical known arsenic the "Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima," oregon CSRL, aft U.S. officials recovered the endeavor turned a nett by stealing substance and crude lipid from Mexico's state-owned vigor company, Pemex. 

OFAC besides sanctioned Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz. Dubbed "El Marro," oregon "the sledgehammer," the person of CSRL is presently serving retired a 60-year condemnation successful Mexico, but U.S. officials person accused him of orchestrating cartel operations from down bars by "sending instructions and orders to his collaborators done his lawyers and household members."

Fuel theft — much commonly known arsenic huachicol in Mexico — has risen to the 2nd astir profitable gross watercourse for Mexican cartels down cause trafficking, according to the U.S. Treasury. U.S. officials allege that members of CSRL bargain substance and crude lipid from Pemex by bribing insiders, tapping pipelines, siphoning refineries, hijacking tanker trucks, and intimidating employees.

The stolen substance is past sold crossed Mexico, the United States and Central America, portion crude lipid is smuggled northbound via complicit brokers — often disguised arsenic "waste oil" to evade taxes and biology scrutiny, the U.S. Treasury discovered. Once wrong the United States, the lipid is past funneled to unscrupulous importers on the southwest border, sold astatine heavy discounts connected U.S. and planetary markets with proceeds softly funneled backmost to the cartels — fueling corruption, unit and a sprawling cross-border vigor achromatic market.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday's enactment is portion of President Trump's pledge to "eliminate" cartels by cutting them disconnected from the U.S. fiscal system, careless of however they make oregon launder money.

CSRL person Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, besides known arsenic "El Marro" oregon "the sledgehammer," was arrested by Mexican authorities successful August 2020. AP

CSRL, founded astir 2014 and named aft a assemblage wrong Guanajuato, has been locked successful a bloody turf warfare with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) since 2017 implicit power of substance theft successful a pipeline-dense portion known arsenic the "Bermuda Triangle." The Treasury says that struggle has helped marque Guanajuato 1 of Mexico's deadliest states. As precocious arsenic August, Mexican authorities seized much than 164,000 liters of stolen hydrocarbons linked to the group.

U.S. officials accidental CSRL has allied with the Gulf Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel and has recruited erstwhile Colombian subject and paramilitary members. The radical is besides accused of trafficking narcotics — including heroin — into the United States.

Tuesday's sanctions frost immoderate U.S.-based assets belonging to CSRL and Yepez Ortiz, formally barring Americans from doing concern with them and imposing imaginable civilian oregon transgression penalties against violators.

The determination follows earlier steps by the Trump medication to designate CJNG arsenic a overseas violent enactment and people affiliated fuel-theft networks tied to the transgression enterprise. 

After a May alert from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Treasury says banks reported much than $827 cardinal successful suspicious oil-smuggling transactions underscoring the scope of the achromatic market. According to FinCEN's investigation — and removing outliers — the mean lipid smuggling transaction is priced astatine $5 million, with suspicious enactment reports often filed successful Florida and Texas, including towns adjacent the U.S.-Mexico borderline similar Brownsville, Mission and Eagle Pass.