Xolo Gas Sanctioned: U.S. Targets a Former Business Partner of Tijuana Xolos Owner Jorge Hank Inzunza — Twin Sons of Hank Rhon’s Late Security Chief
The U.S. Treasury’s Sept. 29, 2026, sanctions on the Sinaloa Cartel’s “Mayito Flaco” network hit Xolo Gas de Baja California and three other companies owned by Jerónimo Javier Vera Ayala, who Mexican outlets report was a business partner of Jorge Alberto Hank Inzunza, owner of the Club Tijuana Xolos soccer team, in Tijuana, across from San Diego. Treasury’s release does not name any member of the Hank family, and Hank Inzunza has previously denied knowing of any criminal activity.
What Treasury alleges
Treasury says Jerónimo Vera is a business partner of Jesús González Lomelí, whom it sanctioned in September 2025 as “a high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel money launderer and associate of La Rana,” the Los Mayos boss in Tijuana, and is “involved in drug trafficking and money laundering through their business ventures together.” It calls his brother, Jorge Mario Vera Ayala, “a central figure and liaison for all cartel activity in Tijuana” who is “known to have laundered money for the Sinaloa Cartel.” Besides Xolo Gas, Treasury designated Lthings Mexico, Codesuam and Grupo Baja Firme as owned or controlled by Jerónimo Vera. Animal Político reported Sept. 29 that Jorge Mario Vera has been a fugitive since Aug. 15, 2015, under a federal organized-crime warrant.
The Hank connection
Animal Político reported in September 2025 that Hank Inzunza, son of former Tijuana mayor Jorge Hank Rhon, co-founded two companies in May 2021, Complejo Turístico JJJ and Grupo Hotelero JJJ, with González Lomelí and Jerónimo Vera, who was sole administrator. Treasury sanctioned both companies in 2025. Hank Inzunza told the outlet the partnership with González Lomelí lasted 20 months and ended in January 2023 for lack of results, and said that “at no time” did he know of the activities or alleged links in the investigation.
Infobae reported Sept. 30 that the Vera twins are sons of Antonio Vera Palestina, Hank Rhon’s security chief, who was sentenced to 25 years for the 1988 killing of Zeta co-founder Héctor “El Gato” Félix Miranda and died in December 2023. Infobae also reported that Jerónimo Vera was arrested in Guadalajara in February 2012 after a protected witness accused him of hiding drug shipments bound for the U.S. at Tijuana’s Agua Caliente racetrack; he was freed in June 2013 through an amparo ruling.
El Universal’s report on the Treasury chart of Los Mayos:
Sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury: “Treasury Sanctions Sinaloa Cartel Leadership and Corruption Networks…” (Sept. 29, 2026)
- Animal Político: “Red de ‘Los Mayos’ revelada por EU alcanza a empresa ligada a Jorge Hank” (Sept. 29, 2026)
- Animal Político (Alexis Ortiz, Neldy San Martín): “Dueño del Club Tijuana fue socio de operador financiero del Cártel de Sinaloa señalado por EU” (Sept. 20, 2025)
- Infobae (Anayeli Tapia Sandoval): “Sanciones de EEUU a red de Los Mayos… salpican a Jorge Hank” (Sept. 30, 2026)
- Photos: U.S. Treasury OFAC chart (public domain); Cuartoscuro file photo via Animal Político. Video: El Universal.
Reported Sept. 30, 2026, from a U.S. Treasury release and Mexican press reports. Sanctions are civil designations, not criminal convictions. Hank Inzunza’s quoted denial dates from September 2025; we found no public response from the Vera brothers or Xolo Gas to the new designations.