Ivan Cazarin Molina
Charged, not convicted. Cazarin Molina faces a 40-year minimum and up to two consecutive life terms if convicted and is presumed innocent.
Introduction
Ivan Cazarin Molina, 42, a Mexican national known by the alias “Tanque,” is an alleged regional commander of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) in Veracruz, Mexico, charged by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and with possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking . The indictment was returned and announced on October 22, 2026, weeks after Mexican law enforcement arrested him on October 5 in Jalisco, Mexico .
Background Information
According to court documents, Cazarin Molina is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine for importation into the United States over a two-decade span from 2005 through 2025, along with using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in relation to the trafficking conspiracy . The State Department designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization on February 20, 2025 — a designation that has moved cartel command figures like Cazarin Molina into the same prosecutorial framework as terrorist organizations .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
The case against Cazarin Molina arrived with the full weight of the Department of Justice’s cartel strategy behind it. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division said: “Today’s indictment of Ivan Cazarin Molina, a regional leader of the CJNG, sends a clear message that the Department of Justice will find all leaders and commanders of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations and prosecute them for their destruction of our communities through drug trafficking and violence” . DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said: “For two decades, Ivan Cazarin Molina allegedly helped fuel CJNG’s trafficking operations using intimidation and violence to protect its criminal enterprise,” adding, “The era of impunity for cartel leaders is over” . If convicted, Cazarin Molina faces a minimum penalty of 40 years in prison and a maximum of two consecutive life prison terms .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The indictment is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159, and the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit in Los Angeles investigated the case with international partners . Chief Kaitlin Sahni of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit and Trial Attorneys Maryann McGuire, Lernik Begian, and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting . The section’s mandate, per the release, reaches the top command and control elements of international drug cartels, and its prosecutors pursue both criminal prosecutions and asset-recovery actions against the financial infrastructure of transnational organized crime . Duva said: “Today’s charges demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment toward the total elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations. Thanks to the hard work of our DEA partners and the Criminal Division prosecutors, these cartel leaders will be exposed and their organizations dismantled” . Cole’s statement added that the DEA, “working though the homeland security task force and alongside our international partners, will fight narco-terrorists wherever they operate” .
Current Status
Cazarin Molina is in Mexican custody following his October 5 arrest in Jalisco, and the charges in the District of Columbia are pending; no trial date has been announced in the release . As with extradited cartel commanders before him, the path from Mexican custody to a U.S. courtroom will determine when the case reaches a jury .
Impact on Their Career/Life
A regional command over CJNG operations in Veracruz made Cazarin Molina one of the organization’s senior figures in eastern Mexico; the U.S. indictment now attaches a named, facing-up-to-life federal prosecution to the alias “Tanque.” For the CJNG, his arrest and charging continue the pattern of FTO-designation-era cases in which the cartel’s leadership is prosecuted in U.S. courts rather than only fought on the ground.
Sources
- DOJ Office of Public Affairs, “Cartel Commander Charged with International Cocaine and Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy and Firearm Offenses in Homeland Security Investigation,” October 22, 2026 — source