Alleged Jalisco cartel leader “El Tanque” arrested in Mexico

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The regional leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), “El Tanque” was arrested in the town of Zapopan in Jalisco state by the Mexican security forces, security minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said on Tuesday.

"Investigations link him to homicides, extortion, unlawful deprivation of liberty, fuel theft, money laundering, and drug trafficking," Garcia Harfuch said on X, adding that he was active in the Mexican states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Puebla.

In September 2024, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned him for his ties to the CJNG and identified him as part of the inner circle of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, otherwise known as “El Mencho.”

El Mencho was killed earlier this year during a U.S.-backed Mexican military operation.

El Mencho was seriously wounded during a firefight with authorities on Feb. 22, 2026. He later died in custody.

Following Oseguera Cervantes’s demise, cartel members unleashed widespread unrest. Roads in 20 Mexican states were blocked by burning cars, sending plumes of smoke into the air. Residents in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and Jalisco’s capital, were forced to shelter indoors, while schools in several states canceled classes.

Security forces across the country were placed on high alert, and even neighbouring Guatemala reinforced its border security with Mexico in response to the escalating situation.

El Tanque is also accused of allegedly participating in an attack against a Mexican army helicopter in Jalisco in 2015, which killed members of the army and federal police.

The U.S. sanctioned El Tanque in 2024, identifying him as Ivan Cazarin Molina.

OFAC said that El Tanque's fuel theft generates tens of millions of dollars per year for himself and CJNG.

Formed in 2009, CJNG has rapidly become one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels. It is assessed to possess the highest capacity for trafficking cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, and more recently, fentanyl into the United States.