The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced on June 30 multiple actions targeting fuel smuggling operations connected to Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a drug cartel designated under counternarcotics and counterterrorism authorities.
OFAC sanctioned two Mexican nationals and nine entities involved in a CJNG-linked scheme that includes cross-border fuel smuggling, falsified customs documents, and shell companies designed to evade Mexican taxes. The scheme is reported to generate tens of millions of dollars annually for the cartel. FinCEN also issued a supplemental alert providing additional guidance on financial typologies and red flags associated with CJNG and other Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations smuggling fuel from the United States into Mexico as part of tax evasion efforts.
“Today’s action highlights the extent to which Mexico’s cartels are expanding beyond traditional drug trafficking to generate revenue for their criminal organizations, which continue to traffic deadly drugs that kill Americans,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Treasury’s actions targeting these illicit revenue streams advance the Trump Administration’s priority of dismantling these terrorist organizations and making America safe again.”
The coordinated effort included collaboration between OFAC, FinCEN, South Texas Homeland Security Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as Mexico’s financial intelligence unit.
Among those designated is Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva, who supports CJNG in a fuel smuggling enterprise generating hundreds of millions each year. Juraidini creates shell companies on behalf of CJNG and falsifies customs documents for cross-border transfers. He owns several businesses in Mexico across transportation, financial services, and real estate sectors as well as one company based in the United Kingdom.
J. Refugio Ruiz Villagomez was also designated for his role in Jomadi Logistics & Cargo S.A. de C.V., an import-export company implicated in huachicol fiscal—schemes involving gasoline or diesel being moved from the United States into Mexico without proper permits or payment of taxes—and Ahavat Logistics Solution S.A. de C.V., both having processed tens of millions through U.S.-linked transactions tied to huachicol-related activities.