Mexico Seizes More Than 51 Million Liters of Illegal Fuel, Details Smuggling Crackdown
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, or FGR, on Wednesday announced the seizure of more than 51 million liters (320,700 bbl) of illegally imported fuel over multiple operations started in 2025 against fuel smuggling networks operating across the country, with the agency valuing three of the four seizures at more than 777 million pesos ($44.2 million).
FGR said authorities seized 18.9 million liters of fuel from 170 rail tank cars in the states of San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas and Coahuila, with an estimated value of nearly 239 million pesos.
Authorities also confiscated another 15 million liters of fuel from 129 rail tank cars, tractor-trailers and tanker trucks following a recent operation centered at the Matamoros customs office in Tamaulipas.
In Ensenada, Baja California, authorities seized nearly 9 million liters of illicit fuel previously unloaded from the tanker Torm Agnes and transferred to a nearby storage site. The cargo was valued at almost 155 million pesos, according to FGR.
The agency also cited a March 2025 seizure of the Challenge Procyon tanker at the port of Tampico, Tamaulipas, where authorities confiscated about 10 million liters of diesel, arrested two suspects and estimated the operation’s financial impact at approximately 372 million pesos.
“Once the fuel arrived at Mexican ports, it was unloaded without being declared, stored at clandestine facilities, and later distributed to retail fuel stations and industrial customers,” FGR said.
Authorities said illegal fuel imports rely on sophisticated networks of shell companies, importers, logistics operators, customs brokers and financial intermediaries that enable criminal organizations to bring illicit fuel into the country, evade taxes and market it illegally.
According to the agency, the seizures resulted from investigations into schemes in which importers declared shipments with volumes far below those transported or falsely identified the cargo as products subject to lower tax rates.
FGR said the networks involved importing companies, customs brokers, fuel recipients, rail operators and financial services firms that helped disperse proceeds and obscure the origin of the fuel to make it appear legitimate.
Despite the government’s recent enforcement actions, criminal organizations managed to smuggle more than 144 million liters of fuel into Mexico between June and July 2025, according to Mexico City-based newspaper Reforma.
The scheme relied on 291 fraudulent import declarations that disguised more than 1,300 rail tank cars carrying ULSD, gasoline and naphtha as calcium chloride solution, said the newspaper report.
Seven people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, including a former customs director detained in June, while six senior officials remain fugitives. FGR said it has active investigations involving more than 70 individuals and corporate entities across nine Mexican states.
Reporting by José Luis Adriano, jadriano@opisnet.com; Editing by Karla Omaña, komana@opisnet.com and Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com