The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic reported that, during a raid on a storage warehouse rented by one of the Farías Laguna brothers, lists of maritime customs, naval personnel files, national security documents, unregistered weapons, and various luxury items were found. Its head, Ernestina Godoy, has reiterated in the video released on social media the accusation against Manuel Roberto and Fernando Farías Laguna of being the heads of the fuel smuggling network that operated in the customs, in which high-ranking naval officers conspired with public officials and businessmen to bring hundreds of millions of liters of gasoline into the country without paying taxes.
This Monday marks one year since Mexican authorities announced the arrest of 14 people and the dismantling of this mafia dedicated to fuel smuggling from the United States. “It was a complex criminal network in which Manuel Roberto and Fernando stood out to ensure the capacity for importation, transport, storage, and distribution of the illegally imported hydrocarbon,” Godoy has said. In the video, of all those involved, only the photographs of these naval officers, nephews of Rafael Ojeda Durán, Secretary of the Navy during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration (2018-2024), have been shown.
That same Monday, Fernando’s wife, recently extradited from Argentina to Mexico, gave an interview to this newspaper in which she claims her husband is a scapegoat to protect the real culprits. Manuel Roberto, for his part, has sent several letters to the public with the same message. The Attorney General’s investigation says the brothers used their influence within the Navy Secretariat to appoint trusted naval officers to key customs positions to operate their network.
“Manuel Roberto directly managed those appointments and promotions,” Godoy has assured, then showing images of a warehouse rented by the naval officer. The footage shows various boxes, jugs, a bust of Darth Vader, rugs, and board games. “As a result of a raid, besides luxury items, maritime customs lists, naval personnel and high command files, national security documents, and unregistered weapons were found,” she explained.
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Then, Godoy explained again how the network operated, in which oil tankers set sail from Texas loaded with hydrocarbons but upon arriving at Mexican customs declared to be carrying additives for lubricating oils to avoid paying taxes. “Loaded ships, manipulated records, complicit customs personnel, simulated inspections, and money laundering were the cycle of this illegal business, in which Manuel Roberto, Fernando, and their accomplices allegedly participated,” the prosecutor concluded.
The official also repeated that it was Ojeda Durán, their uncle and then Secretary of the Navy, who reported the corruption network to the then Attorney General, Alejandro Gertz Manero. Since the dismantling of the network, authorities have tried to erect a firewall between Ojeda Durán and his nephews, with little coherence between dates and facts. The defense of the Farías Laguna brothers has repeatedly requested, without success, that he testify in the judicial investigation.
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