A Pet Jaguar and a Toll on Crude Trucked Into Texas: Who Is ‘Primito,’ the U.S.-Sanctioned Boss Mexico Says ‘El Bebo’ Worked For
The arrest of “El Bebo,” alleged money man for the Gulf Cartel’s Los Metros faction, points to a boss Washington sanctioned last year. Mexico’s Security Cabinet said Sept. 27, 2026, that “Bebo” worked directly under César “N,” alias “Primito.” Infobae identified him the same day as César Morfín Morfín. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned a man by that name on May 1, 2025, saying he charged fees on trucks moving stolen crude oil from Tamaulipas into Texas. (Our earlier report on the arrest is here.)
What Mexico said this week
According to Infobae, Expansión and other outlets on Sept. 27, soldiers, the National Guard and the Attorney General’s Office carried out 19 search operations in Chihuahua, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. They arrested “Bebo” and two other people. Authorities say “Bebo” is linked to a network that smuggled fuel “from abroad” to avoid taxes. They seized 107 tanker trailers, two aircraft and roughly 500,000 liters of fuel. Officials described “Primito” as the head of Los Metros in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
What Washington said in 2025
In its May 1, 2025, sanctions announcement, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control called Primito the Jalisco cartel (CJNG) cell leader for Tamaulipas. It said he once led a Gulf Cartel faction and turned it into a CJNG faction because of his close ties to “El Mencho.” Mexico now describes Los Metros as a Gulf Cartel faction.
Treasury alleged that Primito trafficked fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana into the United States. It also accused him of importing precursor chemicals from China. It said his network had “refocused” on smuggling stolen crude into the U.S. Because of his “control over port of entry bridges between the Tamaulipas and Texas border regions,” Treasury said, he charged fees on trucks carrying crude north. It added that his associates falsified customs documents.
Treasury also sanctioned his brothers Álvaro Noé and Remigio Morfín Morfín, along with two trucking companies it said hauled fuel and crude between Mexico and the United States for him. Treasury noted that in 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Mexico had put Primito and Álvaro Noé on a list of the 10 most wanted criminals in Texas and Tamaulipas.
A jaguar and luxury cars
Treasury said Primito’s “luxurious lifestyle has included ownership of exotic animals and dozens of luxury vehicles.” It released a photo of a jaguar that it said Mexican authorities seized from him in December 2023.
Allegations, not findings
Sanctions are an administrative measure, not a conviction. The claims about both men come from officials; no court has ruled on them, and both are presumed innocent.
Sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Targets Major Mexican Cartel Involved in Fentanyl Trafficking and Fuel Theft,” May 1, 2025
- Infobae, Sept. 27, 2026
- Expansión, Sept. 27, 2026
- CBS News, May 1, 2025
- Photos: U.S. Department of the Treasury (public domain), via the May 1, 2025, press release
Reported Sept. 27, 2026, from a 2025 U.S. Treasury announcement and Mexican media reports of that day’s Security Cabinet announcement. Mexican officials identified the boss only as César “N”; the full name comes from Infobae. Officials did not say where Primito is or whether he faces a Mexican warrant.