The capture of a founding member and high-level lieutenant of Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco New Generation points not only to the further weakening of the organization, but also to new links going public that could tie the terrorist cartel’s illegal fuel operations to the sons of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
This week, Mexican authorities arrested Ivan “El Tanque or the Tank” Cazarin Molina, a top-ranking member of CJNG during an operation in Zapopan, Jalisco. Mexican authorities describe Cazarin as a founding member of CJNG and a close ally of the organization’s late supreme leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. Authorities link him to a 2015 downing of a Mexican federal police helicopter during a failed attempt to capture El Mencho. In addition to serving as a regional commander for the organization, Cazarin was described as the leader of the organization’s fuel-theft operation.
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While Mexico’s top security official, Omar Garcia Harfuch, announced the arrest, Breitbart Texas has confirmed that U.S. law enforcement provided the actionable intelligence that led to Cazarin’s capture, while Mexican authorities laid the groundwork.
According to authorities, Cazarin is one of the main individuals responsible for CJNG’s fuel theft operation, where the cartel would steal fuel products from Mexico’s state-owned fuel company PEMEX. The fuel was then laundered through a complex network of companies and refineries in and out of Mexico so it could be sold as legitimate.
Those networks led to an unusual alliance with the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel, based in Reynosa and led by Cesar “El Primito” Morfin Morfin. Using Los Metros routes and territories, CJNG and the Gulf Cartel would move stolen fuel into Texas, where corrupt refineries would help them launder it and ship it back to Mexico. Breitbart Texas reported on a refinery in South Texas whose owners are currently under federal indictment for their role in laundering CJNG’s fuel.
In Mexico, news articles have linked El Tanque with Luis Alberto Olan, the brother of Amilcar Olan – a man singled out as being a money man for Andres Manuel Lopez Beltran – the son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. News articles in Mexico quote a series of audio recordings between the two brothers in which Luis Alberto tells Amilcar he is in contact with El Tanque and that he is a close friend, “a brother.” As Breitbart Texas has reported, Lopez Beltran previously had his visa revoked over his alleged connections to the illegal fuel trade.
The U.S. government is expected to request El Tanque’s extradition since he is facing several criminal indictments accusing him of drug conspiracy and money laundering.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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