𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗖𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘

                                                                                          

Port of Brownsville Ship Channel, James and Kelly Jensen, Zachary and Maxwell Jensen

A major federal indictment has brought to light a sprawling scheme involving the smuggling of over $300 million in stolen crude oil from Mexico into the United States, allegedly orchestrated with the help of a prominent Utah family. James and Kelly Jensen, along with their sons Maxwell and Zachary, now face serious federal charges for their alleged role in facilitating fuel theft operations linked directly to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). However, despite these high-profile arrests, law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border warn that the broader fuel theft network that enabled the Jensens’ operation is far from dismantled. On the contrary, it remains a critical pillar of cartel financing in Mexico, continuing to thrive with alarming efficiency and scale.

Jim Barton, Editor

The Jensens were arrested on April 23, 2025, following a sweeping crackdown by federal authorities. James and Kelly were taken into custody at their home in Sandy, Utah, while their sons were apprehended at the Port of Brownsville in Texas—a strategic choke point in the smuggling corridor from Mexico to the U.S. The family-operated Arroyo Terminals, a private oil storage and shipping facility in Rio Hondo, Texas, has been identified as a key transshipment hub where nearly 2,900 illicit oil shipments were processed. Court documents allege that, beginning in May 2022, the family used fraudulent paperwork to disguise stolen crude oil as industrial lubricants or waste products, moving massive quantities of oil across the border and into the U.S. energy supply chain.

Federal prosecutors allege the Jensens worked in close coordination with entities controlled by CJNG, one of the most violent and financially sophisticated criminal syndicates in Mexico. The family is accused not only of smuggling and money laundering but also of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, charges that reflect the U.S. government’s designation of CJNG and the Gulf Cartel as terrorist entities. Investigators have moved to seize nearly $300 million in assets tied to the Jensens’ operation, including the Arroyo Terminals facility, thousands of barges, vehicles, and a multimillion-dollar home in Draper, Utah.

During the raid on Arroyo Terminals, federal agents reportedly celebrated the takedown as a major win, handcuffing employees and interrogating them about the oil’s origins. Workers told reporters they were unaware that the shipments they handled were stolen. Nonetheless, federal documents describe the terminal as a critical node in a vast laundering network designed to obscure the provenance of stolen Pemex crude.

Yet even as the Jensens face a litany of serious charges and await trial, authorities stress that this case is only the tip of the iceberg. The same infrastructure, private terminals, tankers, port facilities, and shell companies that enabled their smuggling operation, remains largely intact and vulnerable to continued cartel exploitation. Moreover, the deep-rooted corruption that sustains the fuel theft trade in Mexico has not been uprooted. Bribery of customs officials, the use of false documentation, and the complicity of small-scale logistics providers are all part of the ecosystem that allows cartel-linked oil to flow with relative impunity across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The U.S. Treasury Department has explicitly identified fuel theft as the second-largest revenue stream for Mexican cartels after drug trafficking. According to the DEA, nearly one-third of all fuel sold in Mexico may be stolen or adulterated. This black-market economy not only robs the Mexican state oil company, Pemex, of billions of dollars annually but also exposes consumers in both countries to environmental and safety hazards. Adulterated fuel can damage engines, increase emissions, and undermine trust in legal energy markets. Moreover, the illicit profits from smuggled fuel are reinvested into drug production, weapons procurement, and territorial control, further entrenching cartel influence across Mexico.

                                                

Recent events in Reynosa, Mexico, provide additional evidence of the continuing scale and sophistication of the petroleum black market. Mexican authorities there seized nearly two million liters of stolen crude and arrested several suspects in the La Escondida neighborhood, where they uncovered industrial-scale equipment including fracking tanks, pumps, and tankers. These raids reveal that modern fuel theft is no longer a decentralized operation involving ad-hoc pipeline taps in rural areas. Instead, it has evolved into a highly organized industry with deep integration into urban supply chains, leveraging modern infrastructure and a broad network of corrupt actors.

The Jensens’ case, though significant, represents a rare public glimpse into the nexus between American business interests and Mexican organized crime. It underscores a growing concern among U.S. officials that domestic importers are playing an active role in laundering stolen Mexican crude, either through willful collaboration or negligent oversight. By purchasing illicit oil at steep discounts and reselling it through legitimate markets, these actors enable cartels to monetize their stolen product with minimal resistance.

As President Claudia Sheinbaum intensifies anti-huachicolero enforcement in Mexico and the U.S. steps up scrutiny of fuel imports along the Southwest border, the systemic vulnerabilities remain daunting. The arrest of the Jensen family may send a strong signal about the consequences of colluding with criminal networks, but it does little to stem the larger tide. The fuel theft economy remains entrenched, profitable, and deeply intertwined with Mexico’s broader organized crime apparatus.

Ultimately, the legal proceedings against the Jensens may deliver justice in one instance, but they do not resolve the underlying challenge. Fuel theft continues to be a core funding mechanism for cartels, one that flows alongside the narcotics trade and increasingly commands the attention of policymakers, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies. Without sustained, coordinated action to dismantle the infrastructure supporting illicit oil smuggling, criminal organizations will continue to exploit both sides of the border—ensuring that the fight against organized crime now runs not only through drug corridors but also through energy pipelines.