Drug cartels pose a deadly threat to the American people – a threat President Donald Trump’s administration is determined to eliminate.
On December 17, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL), which derives most of its illicit revenue from fuel and oil theft in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
With origins dating back to 2014, CSRL is named after the community where its original members are from: Santa Rosa de Lima in Guanajuato.
CSRL is primarily involved in fuel and oil theft, going as far as declaring war with the notorious Mexican terrorist Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Generacion in October 2017 for control over fuel and oil theft in the so-called “Bermuda Triangle.” This refers to a collection of municipalities in Guanajuato wherein a Pemex refinery and many Pemex pipelines are located.
As recently as August 2025, Mexican authorities have detained members of CSRL and seized 164,000 liters of stolen hydrocarbons in addition to tanks, tanker trucks, and a clandestine pipeline tap device.
The violent conflict between CSRL and CJNG for control of fuel and oil in Guanajuato has made the state one of the deadliest in Mexico. CSRL’s activities also help enable a cross-border energy black market, undermine legitimate U.S. oil and natural gas companies, and deprive the Mexican government of critical revenue.
In addition to fuel theft and violence, CSRL has also been involved in narcotics trafficking, including trafficking heroin into the United States.
In its fight against CJNG, CSRL has allied itself with the Gulf Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, both of which are U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists, as well as violent Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations. CSRL has also recruited ex-Colombian military and paramilitary personnel to operate in Guanajuato amid its fight against CJNG.
OFAC also sanctioned Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, the leader of CSRL. Prior to his arrest in 2020, he was one of Mexico’s most wanted criminals due to CSRL’s industrial-scale theft of petroleum. Despite having been arrested, Ortiz continues to be active in CSRL from within prison, sending instructions and orders to his collaborators through his lawyers and family members.
“President Trump made a promise to pursue the total elimination of drug cartels to protect the American people,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “At my direction, the Treasury Department is aggressively cutting these criminals off from the U.S. financial system. No matter where or how the cartels are making and laundering money, we will find it and we will stop it.”
