The defense of the Farías Laguna brothers, the high-ranking naval officers whom the Attorney General’s Office accuses of leading a fuel smuggling network at Mexico’s customs, claims that the institution lied in its statement this Monday. Yesterday, the head of the Attorney General’s Office, Ernestina Godoy, reported that during a search of a storage warehouse rented by one of the brothers, maritime customs lists, naval personnel files, national security documents, unregistered weapons, and various luxury items were found. According to a statement released by their legal team, they deny that weapons and confidential documents were found and that the maritime customs lists and naval personnel files “are not signed by Manuel Roberto or Fernando, but by the former Secretary of the Navy,” Rafael Ojeda Durán, uncle of the accused.
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Yesterday, on the anniversary of the Mexican authorities announcing the dismantling of this mafia dedicated to fuel smuggling from the United States, Godoy released a video on social media reiterating the accusation that the brothers were the heads of this network, in which high-ranking naval officers conspired with public officials and businessmen to introduce hundreds of millions of liters of gasoline into the country without paying taxes.
As a new element, she explained that during that search maritime customs lists, naval personnel files, national security documents, unregistered weapons, and various luxury items were found… all elements pointing to Manuel Roberto and Fernando using their influence within the Navy Secretariat to appoint trusted naval officers to key customs positions.
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In their statement, the brothers’ defense says that the Attorney General’s Office presented this finding as new, “although the search warrant has existed since February 1, 2026,” and assures that “neither weapons nor confidential national security documents were found in the property,” and that “the documents the Attorney General’s Office intends to attribute to the brothers” are not signed by them, but by their uncle, Ojeda Durán, the Secretary of the Navy during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration.
Just yesterday, Fernando’s wife, who was recently extradited from Argentina to Mexico, stated in an interview with this newspaper that her husband is a scapegoat; an idea that Manuel Roberto has also expressed in several letters to the public released from prison. Their defense has requested several times, without success, that Ojeda Durán appear before the judge as a witness. The Attorney General’s Office’s statement has been interpreted by the opposition as a form of protection towards Ojeda Durán and other possible political links.
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