In Mexico, the “Nino Huachicolero” is the popular saint of criminals who dedicate themselves to the theft and illegal sale of fuel. She is usually depicted wearing a white dress, carrying a jerry can and a hose, instruments used to extract black gold from perforated oil pipelines.

Oil theft, known as huachicoleo or huachicol trafficking, emerged as a local phenomenon at the end of the last century. However, beginning in the 2010s, drug cartels began to take over the illicit business, draining the country's black market.

Drugs and Fuel

Currently, huachicol is the second largest source of financing for organized crime in Mexico, says Veronica Ayala of the civil association Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI). It is estimated that this crime has generated losses in the millions of dollars, amounting to nearly $4 billion between 2019 and 2024.

The Mexican journalist explains to DW that illegal fuel trafficking has increased considerably in recent years. However, operations to combat it were reportedly launched only under President Claudia Sheinbaum. “During the entire previous six-year term, they denied that this problem existed and no measures were ever taken against it,” Ayala observes.

“Fiscal Huachicol” Case

On September 7, the arrest of 14 people allegedly involved in a smuggling ring was confirmed, in an operation linked to the seizure of ten million liters of hydrocarbons at the beginning of the year.

Among those detained, Mexican Navy Vice Admiral Manuel Roberto Farias Laguna and nine other sailors and customs officials stand out.

Therefore, the so-called “fiscal huachicol” case not only puts the spotlight on illegal fuel trafficking, but also exposes corrupt practices in the Navy.

Corruption in the Army and Navy

These arrests, plus the alleged suicide of another member of the Navy, “They are just the tip of the iceberg of the level of corruption and impunity that prevails in the Mexican Armed Forces,” emphasizes Paloma Mendoza, from the Center for Studies on Security, Intelligence and Governance of the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (CESIG-ITAM).

For many years, she continues, “the Navy maintained a narrative of 'zero impunity' regarding these types of cases to differentiate itself from the Army. However, serious journalistic investigations and leaks affirmed the opposite.”

Former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gave the Armed Forces “a series of functions and responsibilities for infrastructure development, which gave great economic power to the Navy and Defense,” observes Dr. Mendoza, in an interview with DW.

“He turned the military into businessmen, and President Sheinbaum is paying the consequences of the strategic error of her predecessor's decisions, which resulted in a breeding ground for corruption, nepotism, and the deepening of the status quo.” quo of organized crime operations in Mexico's customs and ports," says the security expert.

Not just the Navy...

In 2020, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador handed over administrative control of border customs to the Army and control of the ports to the Navy, "because they were considered the most trustworthy institutions," says Veronica Ayala, from MCCI.

In her opinion, this measure "failed to curb corruption." However, the journalist also highlights that there are several institutions involved in fuel theft, such as the Mexican National Customs Agency (ANAM). This is in charge of analyzing the samples taken from the contents of shipments arriving by sea to the country.

Clandestine fuel “is not only transported by sea, but also passes through border customs, where the Army is in charge, and large quantities of huachicol are also transported in pipes, which travel the country's highways and are controlled by the National Guard,” explains Ayala.

Huachicol affects the image of the Navy

While the MCCI expert welcomes the first actions of the Sheinbaum Government against high-level authorities in the Navy, she demands that the investigations cover all the institutions involved.

For his part, political scientist Javier Ulises Oliva, professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), recognizes that the “fiscal huachicol” case has affected the prestige of the Mexican Navy.

However, he is also convinced that the institution will be strengthened because "has taken a step forward" in the fight against corruption, unlike other areas of the public sector.

Likewise, Dr. Oliva points out that the theft of fuel in Mexico, its refining in the United States, and its return to Mexico, "not only tells us about a problem in customs, but also about the complicity of businessmen and authorities in the United States." Veronica Ayala shares this point of view, and is convinced that the "arrests have a lot to do with the pressure being exerted by the United States, because these are transnational schemes." "Perhaps, if there weren't this pressure from the United States," she adds, "these actions by the Mexican authorities wouldn't happen." (dz)