Alejandro Arcos Romero, an alleged operator of the Romanian mafia who is under scrutiny by the FBI, has been revealed to be part of the campaign team of Rafael Marín Mollinedo, a Morena candidate for the governorship of Quintana Roo. He has been linked to money laundering and the purchase of properties used for human trafficking.
Miguel Meza, a member of Defensorxs, a civil association focused on defending human rights and fighting corruption, revealed that the U.S. agency is tracking Alejandro Enrique Arcos Romero because of his connection to the Romanian mafia led by Florian Tudor, also known as “El Tiburón.”
This criminal group installed devices (skimmers) in ATMs to steal bank card information, mainly in the Mexican Caribbean, although they also operated in other destinations such as Mexico City, Yucatán, the State of Mexico, and Hidalgo, according to intelligence reports..
He Helped Register “Rafa Marín” with the IMPI as He Pursues the Governorship of Quintana Roo
The lawyer and ITAM graduate stated that Arcos Romero helped the Tabasco-born politician register the “Rafa Marín” trademark with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), “as part of his early campaign activities.”
The alleged Romanian mafia operator served as the politician’s representative to carry out this procedure as part of his preparations to compete for Morena’s candidacy in that state of the Yucatán Peninsula.
Marin Mollinedo at early campaign events
“Dangerous Relationships” of Marín Mollinedo in His Goal of Governing Quintana Roo
Since 2021, when Marín Mollinedo arrived at Customs, journalist and analyst Mario Maldonado warned about his “dangerous relationships,” since his private secretary, Alejandro Enrique, appears in judicial investigations as the alleged financial operator of Romanian Tudor and his criminal organization.
At the end of 2021, Marín Mollinedo was being considered as AMLO’s choice to assume Morena’s candidacy for the government of Quintana Roo.
However, “López’s friendship with Gastón Alegre weighed more heavily, owner of Radio Turquesa, where current governor Mara Lezama rose to prominence as a radio host,” Mario Maldonado stated at the time in his article titled Customs Agency: Marín Mollinedo’s Dangerous Relationships.
In his bid to become governor, the former head of the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) was linked to the inner circle of Florian Tudor.
In this context, in April 2021, the UIF ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to dozens of companies and operators of the Romanian mafia, confirmed by the then head of the UIF, Santiago Nieto.
Operator of Marín Mollinedo Under FBI Scrutiny
However, Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) documented that it was at the request of the FBI that the UIF froze the accounts of companies and individuals belonging to the foreign mafia.
The U.S. agency had been tracking Tudor since 2019 because of his alleged participation in the looting of ATMs in New York.
Regarding the case, the former delegate of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) in that state, Javier Ocampo García, stated in 2020 that Tudor’s group committed illegal activities under the protection of state officials in Quintana Roo, and that the investigation was complex, with even the DEA participating.
Although Florian Tudor denied the accusations in March of that year during a press conference in Cancún, he was ultimately arrested on May 27, 2021. He is currently being held at the Altiplano prison under the precautionary measure of pretrial detention while the legal proceedings continue.
Just nine months ago, a judge was suspended for “hindering the extradition” to his native Romania.
Defensorxs Provides Details of the Document Identifying Alejandro Enrique Arcos Romero
The new development in the case is that Miguel Meza stated that he has in his possession a copy of the complete UIF document.
Taking the case file as his source, he claims that it concerns an “operator of the Romanian mafia, under FBI scrutiny, and part of the campaign team of Marín Mollinedo, a Morena candidate for the governorship of Quintana Roo.”
“The UIF identified Alejandro Enrique Arcos Romero as one of the two main financial operators of Florian Tudor’s Romanian Mafia, which operated in 14 states and 15 countries.
“According to the accusation, this mafia obtained $1.2 billion through credit card cloning, mainly involving foreign tourists in Mexico,” Miguel Meza wrote on his X account.
Rafa Marín’s Associate Linked to Money Laundering and Properties Used for Human Trafficking
Likewise, the representative of Defensorxs pointed out that Rafa Marín’s associate is connected to the money laundering activities of the transnational criminal group.
“Alejandro Arcos helped launder these resources through the creation of 14 companies that made real estate and casino investments.
“Most seriously, according to the UIF, some of the properties purchased with these proceeds were possibly used for the trafficking of women from Europe.
“Although these accusations led to the freezing of Alejandro Arcos’s bank accounts in 2021, he has been identified as Rafa Marín’s (private) secretary,” he added.
Who Is Rafael Marín Mollinedo?
Rafael Marín Mollinedo is the cousin of Nicolás Mollinedo Bastar, “Nico,” who was remembered because he earned 63,000 pesos per month as Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s driver in 2004 and was investigated by the DEA for alleged bribes from the Beltrán Leyva cartel, according to ProPublica.
Rafael Marín Mollinedo served as head of the National Customs Agency.
- He was born in Teapa, Tabasco, the same place where AMLO’s late wife, Rocío Beltrán Medina, was born.
- The politician has told the press that he arrived in Quintana Roo in 1987 and founded Tabana Banana S.A. de C.V. in 1990, a company that prospered by selling fruits and vegetables to hotel chains in the Riviera Maya.
- He was in charge of managing the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which he led from 2019 until 2022.
- According to Mario Maldonado, Marín Mollinedo had to leave the project in the hands of the Navy Secretariat (SEMAR) due to alleged mismanagement of the budget — nearly 120 billion pesos.
- He headed the ANAM from 2022 to March 2026, during the height of the Navy’s fiscal fuel-smuggling scandal. There, his right-hand man was Alex Tonatiuh Márquez Hernández, “Lord Relojes,” who was investigated by the UIF for transactions involving shell invoicing companies totaling more than 200 million pesos.
- He had a meteoric stint as a delegate of the Secretariat of Welfare in Yucatán, where he lasted just over a month between April and May 2026.
Although his friends and acquaintances claim that the actual date is the 12th, Marín Mollinedo will celebrate his birthday next Saturday, August 15, 2026, in Chetumal, at a massive political event, according to audio recordings circulating on social media.
The Allegation Regarding Rafael Marín’s Team
The UIF’s allegation against Alejandro Enrique Arcos Romero and his alleged relationship with Florian Tudor’s organization takes on a political dimension because he has once again been linked to Rafael Marín Mollinedo’s team, ahead of a potential Morena candidacy in Quintana Roo.
His participation in registering the “Rafa Marín” trademark with the IMPI is among the elements now surrounding the former ANAM director’s political aspirations.
Source: yucatan
