Federal forces detained Iván Cazarín Molina, known as El Tanque, in Zapopan. Authorities identify him as a regional leader of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and new reports have renewed attention to businessman Luis Alberto Olán Aparicio’s claims about cartel contacts.
Mexico’s public security secretary, Omar García Harfuch, announced the arrest on October 6. Authorities say Cazarín Molina operated for the CJNG in Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla. El País reported that he was wanted in connection with extortion, kidnapping, killings, drug trafficking, money laundering and fuel theft.
The arrest has renewed attention to an audio recording published by Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI). ABC reports that Luis Alberto Olán Aparicio, brother of businessman Amílcar Olán, says in the recording that he knew El Tanque and used the connection to stop extortion targeting a supplier to the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The recording alone does not establish that the businessmen or members of the former president’s family participated in criminal activity.
Amílcar Olán received major government contracts during the 2018-2024 administration, ABC reported, citing Mexican media. He left the country in recent months, and a Mexican TV station located him in Switzerland last week. ABC also cited an April recording published by Latinus in which Amílcar Olán allegedly spoke about his brother Jorge’s ties to El Tanque.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said on October 7 that she had asked the Fiscalía General de la República to say whether it was investigating Amílcar Olán. She also said the attorney general had told her there was no investigation involving the former president’s son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán. Official announcements about Cazarín Molina’s arrest have not accused López Beltrán.