Scott Bessent goes after the top Mexican cartel’s new billion-dollar business: gas stations

Treasury sanctioned two men and nine firms tied to a Jalisco cartel fuel-theft ring that reportedly nets tens of millions a year across 21 Mexican states.

U.S. Treasury announced a series of sanctions and a new bank alert targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal enterprise.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on two Mexican men and nine companies involved in transportation, financial services and real estate, accused of being tied to a cartel-linked fuel theft ring intended to evade Mexican taxes while generating tens of millions of dollars annually for the cartel.

Additionally, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network arm issued an alert to financial institutions that point out red flags of fuel smuggling from the U.S. into Mexico in schemes involving Mexican tax evasion.

“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,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has acknowledged the New Generation Cartel’s presence in 21 of Mexico’s 32 states, surpassing the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, which is estimated to operate in 19 states. Last year, President Donald Trump designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and five other Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Mexican authorities have in recent years seized million gallons of stolen diesel, gasoline and petroleum distillates from states bordering Texas. Organized crime taps pipelines and diverts fuel to service stations forced to buy from cartels or sell it directly in the streets.

U.S. authorities have even accused the Jalisco New Generation cartel of operating its own service stations.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com