U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

Stories

Treasury goes after Mexico’s “gasoline cartel”

Oversight spotlight on cartel-linked fuel smuggling and maritime/shipping compliance

Treasury sanctioned the Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) and its jailed leader José Antonio Yépez Ortiz ("El Marro") on December 17, 2025. Washington's campaign against huachicol money then shifted toward the infrastructure that makes stolen hydrocarbons tradable: shipping, routing, and due diligence.

Updated May 15

Scott Bessent’s farmland divestiture: ethics clash inside Trump’s Treasury

Money Moves

Primary congressional recipient of OGE warnings; venue for potential hearings

Scott Bessent became Treasury Secretary in January 2025. An ethics agreement required him to sell substantial holdings, including up to $25 million in North Dakota soybean and corn farmland that earned as much as $1 million a year in rent. After months of delays, the Office of Government Ethics warned him in August 2025 that he'd failed to comply on time.

Updated May 10