One of the key figures in the Navy’s fuel smuggling scheme returns to Mexico to face justice. Rear Admiral Fernando Farías Laguna will be transferred to his country to appear before a judge for participating in the fuel smuggling network made up of sailors, businessmen, and officials, the largest corruption network of Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration. “He is not yet in transfer, but everything seems to indicate that yes, there will be a transfer. I don’t know if today, tomorrow, or the day after,” the president said this Monday at a press conference. The sailor had been a fugitive from authorities since last October, when he did not attend his summons to testify before the court and fled to Argentina, where he was arrested before the Mexican Government activated efforts to request his extradition. Finally, the rear admiral will be expelled by the Argentine Government in the coming hours, according to official sources.
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The rear admiral is accused of leading the fuel smuggling network from the Mexican Navy Secretariat and faces charges of organized crime with the intent to commit crimes related to hydrocarbons, with the possibility of serving a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. The smuggling scheme was composed of him along with 12 other accomplices, including his brother Manuel Roberto, under the alleged protection of the brothers’ uncle, the then Secretary of the Navy, José Rafael Ojeda Durán. The investigation indicates that the network managed to bring in ships with fuel bypassing the National Customs Agency (ANAM), using his rank, position, relationships, and connections within the Navy Secretariat, managing promotions and advancements, all for their own benefit.
Farias Laguna’s legal team in Mexico and his defense in Argentina had assured EL PAÍS that there were no plans for the rear admiral to leave the country. “No way, they cannot decide on his departure from the country without it being recorded in the extradition case. And in that sense, they confirmed to me that the extradition process is still ongoing, with no updates,” they told EL PAÍS. The Mexican Government had demanded his deportation claiming he had entered Argentina illegally, and threatened to pursue the process through extradition if it was not achieved. The defense strategy was for the rear admiral to request asylum in Argentina, but upon learning of his arrest, the Argentine Minister of National Security, Alejandra Monteoliva, denied this possibility. “He is detained and will be extradited. Argentina is not a refuge for criminals,” said the minister. Finally, the authorities have opted for the expulsion process.
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The rear admiral had been in the South American country to escape Mexican justice since August 2024, when he flew from Mexico to Florida, United States. Finally, authorities issued an Interpol red notice with his name and managed to capture him in Buenos Aires, where he arrived from Colombia with a false Guatemalan passport. His defense team had insisted through legal protections that they be tried by military justice, since both brothers continued to receive their salaries from the Navy Secretariat.
Vice Admiral Manuel Roberto Farias Laguna was arrested almost a year ago along with about ten officials after authorities found a ship that arrived at the port of Tampico (Tamaulipas) with more than 10 million liters of smuggled diesel in June 2025, the thread investigators pulled to uncover a colossal corruption network. From the maximum security prison of Altiplano, where he awaits trial, the vice admiral has sent several letters to President Claudia Sheinbaum to defend his innocence and fight for a fair process. This Tuesday, from the National Palace, the president recalled the progress in the fight against fuel smuggling, cornered by accusations that Andrés López Beltrán, son of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is also involved in these criminal smuggling networks. “Fuel smuggling is practically over. Thanks to the interventions we have been making in customs and the arrests that were made,” she concluded. The expulsion of Farias Laguna from Argentina coincides with the visit of the federal Secretary of Security, Omar García Harfuch, to Buenos Aires for the DEA International Drug Control Conference, which he attended to present the strategy in combating organized crime in Mexico.
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