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| Jim Barton, Editor |
Mexican authorities have dismantled a sprawling fuel theft operation in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in what officials are calling one of the largest seizures of stolen crude oil in recent years. The operation, which was uncovered between July 25 and 27 as part of “Operation Northern Border,” resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1.9 million liters of hydrocarbons and the arrest of several individuals tied to organized crime.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office released images and video footage this week showing a coordinated raid in Reynosa’s La Escondida neighborhood, located just south of the city’s cultural park and convention center. Among the items seized were nine tractor-trailers, two vehicles, 39 tank trucks, 12 motor pumps, 39 mobile storage containers, two power generators, an industrial sweeper, and a motorcycle. Authorities also secured the property where the operation was based.
The bust comes amid growing concerns from U.S. law enforcement agencies about the rising role of cartel-controlled fuel theft along the U.S.-Mexico border. In May, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), along with the DEA, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations, issued an alert warning financial institutions to watch for signs of crude oil smuggling. That alert specifically cited the involvement of major Mexican cartels, including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the Sinaloa Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel, in diverting fuel stolen from Mexico’s state-owned energy company, Pemex, into illicit markets in the United States.
According to FinCEN, crude oil theft has become the second-largest source of illicit revenue for these cartels, behind only drug trafficking. The cartels rely on complicit brokers within Mexico’s oil and gas industry, as well as small U.S.-based companies, to move and launder the stolen fuel. The practice, often referred to locally as huachicoleo, is estimated to cost Mexico tens of billions of pesos annually in lost tax revenue. U.S. oil and gas firms have also reported significant losses due to disruptions in petroleum imports and exports.
The operation in Reynosa was carried out by the Federal Ministerial Police of the Criminal Investigation Agency, working in coordination with Mexico’s Ministry of National Defense, the National Guard, Pemex personnel, and other federal agencies. The bust was part of a wider sweep across northern Mexico, which also included seizures in Coahuila, Nuevo LeΓ³n, Sinaloa, Baja California, Chihuahua, and Sonora. In total, authorities confiscated additional quantities of stolen fuel, weapons, drugs, and armored vehicles in various coordinated raids.
In nearby Crujillas, Tamaulipas, a tanker truck carrying 34,000 liters of stolen fuel was intercepted and a suspect was arrested. In Coahuila, two illegal fuel taps were closed and another 25,000 liters were seized. Authorities say the operations collectively delivered a significant financial blow to transnational criminal organizations, with the DEA estimating losses of up to 86 million pesos to organized crime in one methamphetamine raid alone in Sinaloa.
The DEA’s 2025 Drug Threat Assessment report describes these fuel theft operations as part of a “sophisticated trade-based money laundering scheme” that plays a critical role in financing cartel activities. As traditional trafficking routes become increasingly difficult to navigate, cartels are diversifying their revenue streams, with petroleum theft now a cornerstone of their broader criminal enterprises.
With both Mexican and U.S. agencies stepping up enforcement, this week’s operation in Reynosa signals a major escalation in efforts to combat the black-market fuel economy that has thrived along the border for years.
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