US sanctions CJNG fuel-smuggling facilitators, removes four India-based firms from Russia list

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2026 — The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday updated its sanctions lists with a package led by new counter-narcotics designations targeting alleged facilitators of Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG, fuel-smuggling operations, alongside four Russia-related removals and a new quarterly report on Iran licensing activity under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act.

Treasury said OFAC sanctioned two Mexican nationals and nine entities tied to a CJNG-linked scheme involving cross-border fuel smuggling, falsified customs paperwork and shell companies used to evade Mexican fuel taxes and generate tens of millions of dollars a year for the cartel. Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced the measures together, with FinCEN also issuing a supplemental alert on red flags tied to fuel smuggling by CJNG and other Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations.

The newly listed individuals were Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva and Jose Refugio Ruiz Villagomez. The designated entities included logistics, transport, currency exchange and real estate companies in Mexico, as well as a U.K.-registered company, Cucumber Sweet Waves Ltd. OFAC linked Juraidini Silva to CJNG’s fuel theft enterprise and said he used shell companies and falsified customs documents to move fuel from the US into Mexico while dodging Mexico’s IEPS fuel tax.

Treasury described fuel theft and smuggling, known in Mexico as huachicol, as a major non-drug revenue stream for cartels. It said the trade has cost the Mexican government tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue and has helped finance narcotics trafficking, violence and corruption. FinCEN said that in the 12 months after its May 2025 alert on crude oil smuggling, it received more than 160 suspicious activity reports detailing more than $7 billion in suspicious activity, mostly involving flows between the US and Mexico.

Separately, OFAC removed four India-based companies from the SDN List under Russia-related sanctions: RRG Engineering Technologies Private Limited, Lokesh Machines Limited, Galaxy Bearings Ltd and Shaurya Aeronautics Private Limited. OFAC’s June 30 action page also said it had published its quarterly TSRA report covering specific license activity for exports of agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices to Iran from January through March 2026.