Federal and state security forces carried out what officials are calling the biggest strike yet against “huachicol,” the Mexican term for fuel theft, seizing an estimated 59 million liters (about 15.6 million gallons) of suspected illegal gasoline and diesel. The raid took place at a massive storage facility along Highway 57 in San José Iturbide, in the central state of Guanajuato.
Despite the record haul, authorities reported zero arrests, a recurring pattern in Mexico’s crackdowns on fuel theft that has drawn criticism from analysts who argue that seizures alone do little to dismantle the criminal networks behind the trade.
The targeted plant belongs to Grupo SIMSA, a family-owned conglomerate based in Torreón that stores, transports, and sells gasoline and diesel. The company reportedly secured numerous permits to sell fuel during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto. The facility has 10 storage tanks with a combined capacity of more than 100 million liters and ranks among the country’s main fuel storage and distribution terminals, supplying Pemex—Mexico’s state oil company—as well as ExxonMobil and Shell.
Guanajuato’s public security secretary, Mauro González, confirmed the seizure, which also included three cargo trucks and documents related to the plant’s operations. Grupo SIMSA was founded in 1967 by Salomón Issa Murra and is now run by his sons.
For more details, read the original report from Reforma.
Source: Incautan huachicol récord y otra vez: cero detenidos (Reforma).
Image: USDAgov, PDM 1.0 (via Openverse).