The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Mexican nationals and two companies on May 1, 2025, for their roles in a sprawling fuel theft and crude oil smuggling network tied to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). The network reportedly generates hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, making it one of the most significant non-drug income streams for Mexican cartels.
Who got sanctioned and why
The three sanctioned individuals are Cesar “Primito” Morfin Morfin, Alvaro Noe Morfin Morfin, and Remigio Morfin Morfin. The two designated entities are Servicios Logisticos Ambientales, SA de CV and Grupo Jala Logistica, SA de CV.
Their alleged crime: orchestrating large-scale theft of fuel and crude oil from Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company. Petrochemical theft from Pemex has been a longstanding revenue source for Mexican cartels, and the practice is so common in Mexico it has its own name: huachicol.
This wasn’t the first time OFAC went after CJNG’s fuel operations. A prior round of sanctions on September 10, 2024, targeted nine Mexican nationals and 26 associated entities involved in the same fuel theft network.
