HomeNewsBriefCriminals Turn to Metal Theft as Mexico Underworld Fragments
BRIEF

Criminals Turn to Metal Theft as Mexico Underworld Fragments

MEXICO / 21 OCT 2014 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Criminal groups are reportedly stealing and selling parts of electrical towers in northern Mexico, in yet another example of these organizations looking for new revenue streams as the country's underworld fragments. 

According to Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), criminal groups are stealing parts from electrical towers to resell them on the black market or as scrap metal, reported El Universal. From 2010 to May 2014, approximately 90 tons of metal were stolen in the northern states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila -- where this crime is reportedly most common. Over this period, the theft cost the CFE close to $1 million. 

According to information gathered from six regional CFE offices, 2012 was by far the year during this period when the most metal was stolen -- 66 tons. So far this year, the CFE has lost three tons of metal to criminal groups. 

Due to the technical knowledge needed to dismantle electrical towers, CFE officials told El Universal they suspected current or former CFE employees may be assisting criminal groups with the robberies. 

InSight Crime Analysis

The theft of metal in northern Mexico is one illustration of efforts by criminal groups to find alternative sources of income as the country's criminal landscape fragments. In recent years, major drug cartels have spawned numerous smaller factions, leading criminal groups to turn to the local economy as a source of revenue. Along with extortion, kidnapping, and illegal mining, some groups are turning to natural resource theft, which requires less logistical sophistication and manpower than transnational drug trafficking operations. 

SEE ALSO: Mexico News and Profiles

While El Universal does not name specific criminal groups, the geographical concentration of electrical tower robberies suggests the possible involvement of the Zetas. The split in Zetas leadership in 2012 -- along with the loss of high-ranking members of the group -- has spurred the cartel's fragmentation into isolated cells operating semi-independently. There is evidence Zetas factions are turning to activities such as oil theft and illegal coal mining as sources of revenue.

Other Mexican criminal groups have also diversified their revenue streams. The Gulf Cartel is reportedly heavily involved in fuel theft in Tamaulipas, and the Knights Templar have been linked to illegal iron exports and the seizure of illegal timber. Newer criminal groups, like the Guerreros Unidos -- a splinter group of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) -- rely heavily on kidnapping and extortion.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

GULF CARTEL / 20 MAR 2023

The state of Tamaulipas may not top Mexico's violence rankings, but the Gulf Cartel's fragmentation is raising concerns.

GUATEMALA / 8 DEC 2021

A transnational labor trafficking network brought dozens of individuals from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to the United States under the…

JALISCO CARTEL / 9 MAY 2022

Mexico City authorities have sustained a two-year crackdown on the city’s largest gang, La Unión Tepito, arresting hundreds and freezing…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…