Naval personnel from Mexico among fourteen individuals taken into custody during a significant operation to curb fuel smuggling

Mexico has seen a series of high-profile arrests as part of an aggressive crackdown on the illegal fuel trade, also known as huachicol. The recent operations, largely due to pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have uncovered a complex criminal structure and widespread corruption within the government and businesses.

The arrests, announced by Attorney General Alejandro Gertz and Security Minister Omar García Harfuch on Sunday, include 14 individuals, such as customs employees, businessmen, six members of the military, and potentially government officials. Among the latest arrests are Vice Admiral Roberto Fariás Laguna and Francisco Javier Antonio Martínez, former director of Customs in Matamoros.

The arrest of Vice Admiral Fariás Laguna and Francisco Javier Antonio Martínez is the result of ongoing investigative and intelligence efforts following the March seizure of the petroleum tanker, the Challenge Procyon, in the Gulf Coast port of Tampico. The tanker, carrying diesel on which a special import tax was due, was declared to customs as a petrochemical exempt from the tax.

The case against Martínez took shape when his business relationship with the owners of Intanza, a company found complicit in the March bust in Tampico, became public knowledge. The seizure of over 17 million liters of stolen fuel in double 'huachicol' busts has contributed to the current investigation, which suggests illegal fuel theft networks in Mexico benefit from "wide levels of corruption in Mexico's government and businesses," according to Mexican security analyst David Saucedo.

It's important to note that each unloading of an unpaid IEPS-taxed fuel shipment costs the government approximately 1 billion pesos (US $51.7 million), as stated by Mexican Anti-Corruption and Good Government Minister Raquel Buenrostro. Fuel theft has cost the state-owned oil company Pemex US $3.8 billion in the past five years.

However, it's worth mentioning that no specific Interior Ministry officials have been publicly reported as arrested in connection with the illegal fuel trading scandal, and there are currently no confirmed indications of corruption within the ministry. Vice Admiral Roberto Fariás Laguna, while related to former Navy Minister Rafael Ojeda, is not a suspect in the ongoing investigation.

The ongoing crackdown on the illegal fuel trade in Mexico indicates that the criminal structure may extend to high-ranking military officials and government officials. The case file from Ojeda's formal complaint while still in office has undoubtedly contributed to the current investigation, shedding light on the deep-rooted issue of corruption in Mexico.