Influential groups in Mexico were working with U.S. oil companies to smuggle thousands of barrels of stolen oil north, only to then move them back south of the border as part of an intricate laundering operation. The case is tied to multiple raids and seizures on both sides of the border that have the potential to shake up Mexico’s political elite due to the cartel connections in these operations.
Last week, U.S. federal authorities raided an oil business in South Texas as part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal importation of nearly 2,900 oil barrels. This shipment earned the company, Arroyo Terminals, and its owners more than $ 300 million. Court documents indicate that the conspiracy started at least as early as 2022, using false documents to pass off crude oil shipments as oil waste. Before the raid, authorities in Utah arrested four members of the family that owns Arroyo Terminals on a criminal indictment charging them with multiple counts of money laundering, money laundering conspiracy, aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods, and more. The group has since been moved to South Texas, where they went before a magistrate judge who ordered that they be held without bond pending further hearings.
While U.S court records do not identify a cartel or a source for the theft of the fuel, law enforcement sources in Mexico point to a fuel theft operation tied to Cartel Jalisco New Generation, as well as factions of the Gulf Cartel. Court documents revealed that as part of the raid, authorities seized more than 80,000 barrels of oil.
Huachicol
The case comes at a time when Mexico’s federal government has also begun a series of crackdowns on fuel theft and smuggling operations on its side of the border.
On March 19, Mexican authorities announced the seizure of a ship called Challenge Procyon in Tampico, which had sailed from Houston, carrying over ten million liters of diesel. The seizure was hailed as one of the largest of its kind.
The case highlights the practice known as Huachicol Fiscal, a term used in Mexico to refer to the smuggling of fuel products through the use of false documents to bypass Mexican Customs. Usually, the practice involves using tractor-trailers for smuggling operations. However, recent investigations point to the use of barges and ships. The practice relies on cartel fuel theft operations, where gunmen tap into the fuel lines of Mexico’s state-owned company, Pemex, to steal truckloads of gasoline, diesel, or crude oil. These are either sold locally using false records or laundered in more complex operations.
In Mexico, reporting by Televisa on the Texas raid links the fuel smuggling operation to Roberto Blanco “Brown” Cantu and his Jalisco-based company, Mefra Fletes. Blanco’s brother, Rigoberto Brown Cantu, is currently in U.S federal custody for his alleged role in a Gulf Cartel-linked operation tied to the extortion of international travelers.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, members of Mexico’s political elite are closely tied to the fuel theft racket. In 2021, gunmen shot and killed Sergio Carmona Angulo, a fuel theft magnate who had bankrolled numerous campaigns for the country’s ruling party, MORENA, including various mayors, as well as the current Tamaulipas Governor, Americo Villarreal.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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