U.S. Justice Department charges CJNG Veracruz regional commander 'Tanque'; conviction carries at least 40 years
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Justice Department said on Oct. 22 (local time) that a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., had indicted Mexican national Ivan Cazarin Molina, 42. The department identified Cazarin Molina, known by the alias "Tanque," as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) regional commander in Veracruz, Mexico. The charges are conspiring from 2005 to 2025 to manufacture and distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States, and using a firearm in connection with that conspiracy. If convicted, Cazarin Molina faces a minimum of 40 years in prison and a maximum of two consecutive life sentences. The CJNG was designated a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department in February 2025.
Federal grand jury brings 20-year cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy and firearm charges
According to the Justice Department press release, the grand jury found that Cazarin Molina conspired to manufacture and distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine for the purpose of importation into the United States. The conspiracy period runs from 2005 to 2025. The second count alleges using and discharging a firearm in connection with the drug trafficking conspiracy. At the end of the release, the department added that an indictment is merely an allegation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
DEA administrator says era of impunity for cartel leaders is over
The investigation was handled by the Los Angeles Bilateral Investigations Unit of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Operations Division (SOD). The prosecution is being handled by the Justice Department Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF). DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said of the indictment, "The era of impunity for cartel leaders is over."
Mexican authorities arrested him on Oct. 5 in Zapopan, Jalisco
The Justice Department said Cazarin Molina was arrested by Mexican law enforcement authorities on Oct. 5 in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Details of the arrest were contained in a post on the official X account of Omar García Harfuch, Mexico's secretary of security and citizen protection (SSPC), on Oct. 6. Harfuch said Iván "N," alias "El Tanque," was arrested on Oct. 5 in Zapopan, Jalisco, and identified him as a CJNG "regional operator (operador regional)" active in Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla.
Mejorar cada día la seguridad y garantizar la tranquilidad de las familias de México es la prioridad de la Presidenta @Claudiashein . Con inteligencia, investigación y coordinación, seguimos actuando contra las estructuras criminales que generan violencia.
— Omar H Garcia Harfuch (@OHarfuch) October 6, 2026
El 5 de octubre, en… pic.twitter.com/bvzeZkeqVI
Harfuch opened the post by saying that improving security every day and guaranteeing the tranquility of Mexican families is the president's priority, and stated, "With intelligence, investigation and coordination, we continue to act against the criminal structures that generate violence (Con inteligencia, investigación y coordinación, seguimos actuando contra las estructuras criminales que generan violencia)." According to Harfuch, the arrest was a joint operation by the Defense Ministry (Defensa), the SSPC and the National Guard (GN). Mexican army special forces and SSPC operational units handled the ground operation, and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) provided intelligence. SSPC investigators and agents of the Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) Criminal Investigation Agency tracked his movements and located him. Harfuch said he was arrested in flagrante, and one vehicle, one firearm and various types of drugs were seized.
Harfuch said Mexican investigative authorities link him to homicide, extortion, illegal deprivation of liberty, fuel theft, money laundering and drug trafficking. He is also suspected of taking part in a 2015 attack on a Mexican army helicopter in Jalisco in which army and federal police personnel were killed, Harfuch said. Harfuch said he was handed over to the Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (FEMDO), which will determine his legal situation. Harfuch also cited U.S. Treasury sanctions from September 2024 and said information on the case was exchanged with the U.S. DEA. Harfuch thanked the military and investigative personnel who took part in the operation, as well as the governors of Veracruz and Jalisco.
Treasury already sanctioned his fuel theft network in 2024
Cazarin Molina was a target of the U.S. government even before the indictment. On Sept. 10, 2024, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned nine Mexican nationals and 26 Mexican companies linked to a fuel theft network that generates tens of millions of dollars for the CJNG. The basis was Executive Order 14059 on international illicit drug trafficking. Treasury at the time identified Cazarin Molina as a senior CJNG member reporting to CJNG leader Rubén Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"), and said he operates in the states of Jalisco and Veracruz. The action was taken in coordination with the DEA and Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF).
Treasury identified fuel theft, known as "huachicol," as the largest non-drug source of revenue for Mexican cartels. Thieves drill into pipelines of the Mexican state oil company Pemex or divert fuel from refineries and hijack tanker trucks, Treasury explained. According to Treasury, "Tanque" stole fuel by drilling into Pemex pipelines and stored the stolen fuel in storage tanks with capacity of millions of liters near the city of Veracruz. He sold the stolen fuel through seemingly legitimate retail gas stations and also passed it to third parties. Treasury found that these third parties resold the fuel to the U.S. market, often in Texas.
Treasury said his older brother, César Cazarin Molina ("Tornado"), is a senior CJNG member who remains active while in prison. Both brothers used the alias "Víctor Hugo Delgado Rentería." His father-in-law, Domingo Medina Díaz ("El Mingo"), is an armed CJNG member who has been involved in Mexico's fuel industry since the late 1980s and is also in prison, Treasury said. Jahir Cazarin Ramos, Tornado's son and Tanque's nephew, was identified as having acted as a front for fuel companies. Gerardo Alvarado Castillo, José Saúl Rodríguez Hernández, Brandon Ernesto Herrera Medina, Santos Aldair Estrada Medina and Patricia Rivera García were also placed on the sanctions list as fronts or officers of the network. Wally Adeyemo, then deputy Treasury secretary, said the CJNG's diverse revenue sources, including fuel theft, ultimately strengthen its capacity for fentanyl trafficking.
According to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, Cazarin Molina was born on Oct. 15, 1984, in Veracruz, Mexico. The list includes both the alias "El Tanque" and the alias "Víctor Hugo Delgado Rentería." His brother César was born on Feb. 6, 1980, in Veracruz, and the list records "Tornado" and the same alias. Father-in-law Medina Díaz is listed as born on Nov. 19, 1961, in the state of Guerrero, and nephew Jahir Cazarin Ramos as born on March 18, 1998, in Veracruz. All four were classified as narcotics sanctions targets under Executive Order 14059.
Of the 26 sanctioned companies, 13 are linked to Tanque's network. They include 11 retail gas station companies in Veracruz, the hazardous materials transport company Traver Permisionarios and the construction company Maquinas EDJA. The remaining 13 are Veracruz-based companies linked to José Saúl Rodríguez Hernández. The CJNG had already been sanctioned earlier, on April 8, 2015, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), and on Dec. 15, 2021, under Executive Order 14059.
CJNG designated a foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorist in February 2025
On Feb. 20, 2025, the U.S. State Department published a notice in the Federal Register designating eight organizations, including the CJNG, as foreign terrorist organizations under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). The eight organizations are Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha, the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG, Cárteles Unidos, the Cartel del Noreste, the Gulf Cartel and La Nueva Familia Michoacana. The notice said Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed it on Feb. 6 and that the decision was made in consultation with the attorney general and the Treasury secretary. The designations took effect upon publication in the Federal Register.
On the same day, the State Department also published a notice in the Federal Register designating the same eight organizations as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) under Section 1(a)(ii)(A) of Executive Order 13224. That notice was also signed by Rubio on Feb. 6. In its latest press release, the Justice Department also explicitly noted that the secretary of state designated the CJNG a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025. Treasury's July 2026 sanctions announcement likewise referred to the CJNG as "the terrorist group" and recalled the Feb. 20, 2025, FTO designation.