The US Treasury Department included the Mexican gas station company Petrocoda S.A. de C.V. in a sanctions package against more than 50 people and entities linked to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación.
The action is based on Petrocoda having been controlled by Audias Flores Silva, alias “El Jardinero”, through his cousin Areli Isis Medina Flores and Gabriel Serrano Magaña. Flores Silva, detained by Mexican authorities on April 27, was one of the main operators of the CJNG.
According to the Treasury, the company was part of a network that included a liquor store, a clothing firm and a tequila ranch to hide illicit assets. The sanctions, under executive orders 14059 and 13224, block properties in US territory and prohibit transactions without OFAC authorization.
Other sanctioned entities include Stella Servicios Comerciales y Empresariales S.A. de C.V., El Almacén Licorería and Corporativo de Seguridad Privada Alfa y Gama S.A. de C.V. The Treasury Department noted that the CJNG uses these companies to launder money from activities such as drug trafficking and fuel theft.
