Patrick T. Fallon/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
A Texas-based gas dealer is below investigation in the USA and Mexico after paperwork allegedly confirmed a paper path linking gas shipments to a smuggling scheme tied to the Jalisco New Era Cartel, one in every of Mexico’s strongest drug cartels.
Reuters reported that Ikon Midstream shipped diesel and naphtha that have been allegedly labeled in customs paperwork as lubricants, a class that may keep away from steep Mexican gas import duties. Mexican safety paperwork and authorities sources cited by the information company allege the corporate performed a key function in shifting gas into Mexico by way of obscure importers that lacked legitimate permits.
Ikon has denied knowingly supporting any cartel-linked operation. The corporate acknowledged documentation errors however stated it adopted due diligence protocols and didn’t know its clients have been allegedly concerned in criminality. Ikon can be suing Reuters for defamation over earlier reporting.
Ikon Midstream Govt Director Rhett Kenagy advised the outlet that there was “not a single shred of documentation to again any of [the allegations] up” and that the corporate was “not going to answer accusations grounded in rumour.”
The report facilities on shipments involving the tankers Torm Agnes and Torm Louise, which Mexican investigators linked to importers Intanza and Azteca Cone. Reuters stated each corporations are below investigation and lack legitimate import permits. Ten different Mexican corporations related to Ikon have been additionally suspended from Mexico’s import registry, in response to the report.
The case comes because the U.S. cracks down on cartel involvement in gas theft and oil smuggling. In Could 2025, the Treasury Division sanctioned three Mexican nationals and two Mexico-based entities, saying they have been a part of a drug trafficking and gas theft community linked to CJNG.
Treasury stated the community generated “lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} yearly” for the cartel by way of fentanyl trafficking, gas theft, and crude oil smuggling. Federal authorities have already taken motion related to Ikon.
Reuters reported in April that U.S. regulation enforcement raided the corporate’s Houston workplaces as a part of fuel-smuggling investigations in Mexico. When requested for remark, Homeland Safety Investigations, the company that executed the warrant, advised Reuters that the raid was “associated to an ongoing investigation into legal exercise.”
The State Division designated CJNG and 7 different teams as International Terrorist Organizations and Specifically Designated World Terrorists in February 2025. The Nationwide Counterterrorism Middle describes CJNG as one in every of Mexico’s strongest and violent cartels and a serious trafficker of fentanyl and different medicine.
Source link
#U.S #Fuel #Trader #Investigated #Alleged #CartelLinked #Smuggling
