The Trump administration on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on three Mexican nationals — including one accused drug lord with a fondness for exotic animals and luxury cars — and two Mexico-based entities involved in a drug trafficking and fuel theft network linked to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
It is one of Mexico's most powerful cartels and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it has some 19,000 members in its ranks. The cartel developed rapidly into an extremely violent force after it split from the Sinaloa cartel after the 2010 killing of Sinaloa cartel capo Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel Villarreal by the military.
The new sanctions against Jalisco New Generation, including top members Cesar Morfin Morfin (dubbed "Primito") and his brothers Alvaro Noe Morfin Morfin and Remigio Morfin Morfin, target the group's fuel theft network.
U.S. officials allege Primito is involved in the transportation and distribution of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana into the United States.
"Primito's luxurious lifestyle has included ownership of exotic animals and dozens of luxury vehicles," the Treasury said in a news release, while releasing an image of a jaguar allegedly seized from Primito by Mexican authorities in December 2023.
A jaguar seized from Primito by Mexican authorities in December 2023.
U.S. Treasury Department
The Treasury Department says that network has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue to the Mexican government and also funds the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States.
The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals or companies have in the U.S. and prohibit U.S. citizens from doing business with them.
The U.S. administration has made it a priority to combat that flow, which has been blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths every year.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that his department "will continue to use all available tools to relentlessly target drug cartels and foreign terrorist organizations to Make America Safe Again."
Paul Anthony Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the sanctions actions "will ensure that the cartels no longer have the ability to provide unlimited funds to further their criminal enterprises and allow the U.S. government "to disrupt their daily activities on both sides of the border."
In February, the administration designated Jalisco New Generation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The group has been accused of using fake job advertisements to lure new members and of torturing and killing recruits who resist. In March, a group of people looking for missing relatives found charred bones, shoes and clothing at a suspected training ground for the cartel.
Thursday makes the eighth time the Trump Treasury Department has taken action against cartels. The Biden administration also imposed sanctions on the Jalisco New Generation group.
The cartel is led by Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, who is better known as "El Mencho." Washington has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, when asked Tuesday about the fight against fuel theft and smuggling, said her party in Congress was working to strengthen the government's tools so there will be "traceability" when it comes to fuel shipments.
"So that any tanker truck carrying fuel, whichever kind, we know: where it came from; where it's going; if it's imported, with what import permit did it enter, where was it stored, and from there to which service station is it going to be taken," Sheinbaum said. "If a tanker has stolen fuel from a pipeline and is stopped on the highway, it has to show where that fuel came from; if it doesn't, there's something illegal."
A man known as "The Tank" leads the cartel's fuel theft arm, supplying it with tens of millions of dollars a year by selling stolen gasoline through a network of seemingly legitimate businesses, according to the U.S. Treasury.
The White House has linked fentanyl to President Trump's tariff plan, saying he wants "to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country."