‘El Tanque,’ Sanctioned by U.S. Treasury Over a CJNG Pipeline Fuel-Theft Empire Worth Tens of Millions a Year, Arrested in Zapopan — Mexico Ties Him to 2015 Army Helicopter Attack
Mexican federal forces have arrested Iván Cazarín Molina, “El Tanque,” in Zapopan, Jalisco. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in 2024 as a member of “El Mencho’s” inner circle in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), saying his fuel thefts from Pemex pipelines earned tens of millions of dollars a year. Mexico’s security secretary, Omar García Harfuch, announced the Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, arrest. Excélsior and Borderland Beat reported it on Oct. 6.
What Mexico says he did
García Harfuch described Cazarín as a regional CJNG operator active in Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla, according to Borderland Beat, which cited N+. Army special forces and an SSPC operations group made the arrest, working from National Intelligence Center information and investigators from the SSPC and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). Officials say a vehicle, a gun and drugs were seized and that he will be handed to the FGR’s organized-crime unit.
Officials link him to homicide, extortion, unlawful deprivation of liberty, fuel theft, money laundering and drug trafficking. García Harfuch also tied him to the 2015 attack on an Army helicopter in Jalisco. Excélsior and Infobae date that attack to May 1, 2015, in Villa Purificación. These are allegations; he has not been convicted.
The U.S. Treasury case
On Sept. 10, 2024, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 9 Mexican nationals and 26 Mexico-based companies. It said El Tanque, named after the storage tank, reported directly to CJNG leader El Mencho. Treasury said he taps Pemex pipelines and stores the fuel near the city of Veracruz in tanks that hold millions of liters. It also said he sells the fuel through a network that includes 11 gas stations in Veracruz.
Treasury also sanctioned his older brother, César Cazarín Molina, “Tornado.” It described both men as founding members of the CJNG and said El Tanque shares his fuel-theft profits with him. Treasury said El Tanque also engaged in drug trafficking, extortion and homicide. Sanctions are a civil measure, not a criminal charge, and none of the sources reviewed reports a U.S. indictment against him.
Grupo Fórmula report on the arrest:
Sources
- Borderland Beat (“Sol Prendido,” citing N+), “Iván Cazarín Molina, alias ‘El Tanque,’ Alleged CJNG Operator Active in Several States, Arrested,” Oct. 6, 2026
- Excélsior, “Detienen a ‘El Tanque’, presunto líder del CJNG en Zapopan,” Oct. 6, 2026
- Infobae, “De derribar un helicóptero del Ejército a ser cofundador del CJNG,” Oct. 6, 2026
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Targets Key Funding Source of Deadly Fentanyl-Trafficking Cartel CJNG,” Sept. 10, 2024
- Video: Grupo Fórmula on YouTube
- Photos: Mexican government handout (SSPC) and U.S. Treasury OFAC chart, via Infobae
Reported Oct. 6, 2026, from the sources above. Cazarín Molina has not been convicted of any crime, and the sources reviewed do not name a lawyer for him. Details may change as the FGR files charges.