The Mexican Government has dismantled a millionaire network for the illegal extraction and sale of fuel, announced this Wednesday the federal Security Secretary, Omar García Harfuch. According to authorities, the criminals’ operation had the capacity to extract up to 1.5 million liters of hydrocarbons weekly in the States of Hidalgo and Estado de México, in the center of the country. Seven people have been arrested, including the alleged leader of the group.
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Police have seized in both States 150,000 liters of liquefied petroleum gas (LP), 61 tankers, and 500,000 pesos in cash (28,800 dollars) in addition to weapons and technological equipment. According to García Harfuch, the network not only illegally extracted fuel but also transported, stored, and sold hydrocarbons through shell companies.
The head of the Security portfolio has also assured that the group used gas companies to sustain its operation. “The investigations […] have made it possible to identify operational and financial structures that used shell companies, straw men, and distribution networks to conceal the illicit origin of resources and maintain the illegal flow of fuels in different regions of the country,” he stated at a press conference.
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Harfuch maintained that the dismantling of this network was achieved after seven months of investigations. The attorney general, Ulises Lara, went further and described the group as “one of the largest networks” of huachicol. The federal government has also reported the arrest of two businessmen from gas firms related to the group.
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