Iván Cazarín Molina, known as “El Tanque,” was detained in Jalisco. Mexican authorities link him to fuel theft, killings, kidnappings and drug trafficking; the allegations have not been adjudicated.
Mexican security forces have arrested Iván Cazarín Molina, known as “El Tanque,” an alleged regional leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said the operation took place Monday in Zapopan, Jalisco. He announced the arrest on Tuesday.
Mexican authorities say Molina ran a fuel-theft network and was linked to homicides, kidnappings and drug trafficking. They also accuse him of involvement in a 2015 attack on an army helicopter in Jalisco that killed soldiers and federal police officers. These are allegations by authorities, not findings of a court.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Molina in September 2024, describing him as a trusted member of the inner circle of CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” who was later killed in a military operation. The Treasury said Molina’s fuel operation generated tens of millions of dollars annually for him and the cartel.
U.S. authorities allege that stolen fuel was sold through a network of ostensibly legitimate gas stations and to intermediaries who moved it into the U.S. market, often in Texas. Treasury describes fuel theft, known in Mexico as huachicol, as cartels’ second-largest revenue stream after drug trafficking.
CJNG is among eight cartels designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations. In August, the State Department offered a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of the group’s new leader, Juan Carlos González, El Mencho’s California-born stepson.