Washington DC - The Department of the Treasury on Tuesday imposed strict sanctions on Mexican nationals and nine entities allegedly involved in a cartel-linked fuel smuggling scheme.

According to the Treasury, Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel has been smuggling huge quantities of fuel and stolen crude oil from the US into Mexico without paying import taxes.

The illegal enterprise is thought to have generated hundreds of millions of dollars, making it the cartel's second-largest revenue source.

In a press release, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said that it has sanctioned two Mexican citizens and nine other entities over a scheme that involved "cross-border smuggling, falsified customs documents, and shell companies."

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"All property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons… are blocked and must be reported to OFAC," the Treasury announced.

Among those sanctioned are Oscar Juraidini and the seven companies he owns or controls, as well as J. Refugio Ruiz, who owns two logistics companies,

Mexican cartels such as the CJNG are known for using various schemes to evade tax and turn a profit, including the use of dodgy documentation and the bribing of government officials.

They source the oil through complicit US companies, which then launder the profits. Once it has been transported across the border, it is sold at unregulated service stations and roadside fuel stops.

"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," Treasury Secretary Bessent said in a statement.

"Treasury's actions targeting these illicit revenue streams advance the Trump Administration's priority of dismantling these terrorist organizations and making America safe again."