HomeNewsBriefMillion-Liter Fuel Find in Zetas Territory Highlights Oil Theft in Mexico
BRIEF

Million-Liter Fuel Find in Zetas Territory Highlights Oil Theft in Mexico

MEXICO / 30 MAY 2012 BY EDWARD FOX EN

Mexico's military discovered over 1.5 million liters of stolen oil in Veracruz state, a region dominated by the Zetas, pointing to the growing importance of oil theft to the country's biggest criminal gangs.

Soldiers made the discovery after acting on information provided by citizens in the municipality of Minatitlan, southeast Veracruz, the Defense Department told EFE. Along with the oil -- over 90 percent of which was still in crude form -- two tanker truckers and eight tanker trailers were seized from two clandestine depots.

The depots were found close to a refinery run by state oil company Pemex.

Mexico's Attorney General's Office announced earlier this month that it had opened several preliminary investigations into companies accused of buying fuel stolen from Pemex. Pemex is reportedly taking legal action against 14 US companies alleged to have bought fuel stolen by the Zetas gang.

InSight Crime Analysis

During President Felipe Calderon's time in office, large-scale criminal groups have become increasingly involved in oil theft in Mexico. Once the reserve of small-time gangs, in recent years there has been evidence of both the Zetas and their rivals the Sinaloa Cartel gaining a growing stake in the trade.

In the same period, the amount of fuel stolen from Pemex has risen considerably. Some 3 million barrels (just under 477 million liters) of oil were stolen in 2011, a jump of 52 percent on the previous year, and representing a loss of $475 million to the company.

Pemex employees and Mexican government officials are sometimes complicit in oil theft, as the Senate has noted.

Though the two illegal depots were discovered in Veracruz, a Zetas stronghold, the state worst afflicted by oil theft is now Sinaloa, which overtook Veracruz and Nuevo Leon last year in the number of illegal siphons detected, according to Excelsior. Given the extensive network of pipelines running throughout the country and the government's inability to police them all, oil theft will likely remain a highly lucrative business for gangs, offering a relatively low-cost, low-risk source of revenue.

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.

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

FENTANYL / 1 DEC 2022

Nuevo Laredo was set ablaze following the capture of a Northeast Cartel leader. But what does this mean for the…

HUMAN RIGHTS / 27 JUL 2021

Reports of migrants dying and disappearing in the US-Mexico borderlands are becoming increasingly common, propelled in part by a restrictive…

CHINA AND CRIME / 14 APR 2022

The full threat posed to Mexico's biodiversity by both Mexican and Chinese organized crime networks has been revealed in a…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…