Fuel Theft, Corruption, and the Soldiers Who Switched Sides

Fuel theft—huachicol—is the second most profitable operation for Mexico’s organized crime networks, right behind narcotrafficking. And increasingly, it’s being run with state-sanctioned uniforms.

On Saturday morning, a call came into the local police station in Apaseo el Alto, Guanajuato. It was routine on paper—another tip about possible fuel theft on the Celaya-Palmillas bypass, a known corridor for huachicoleros. But what officers found at the scene wasn’t just another backwoods fuel siphon.

It was an inside job.

Eleven members of Mexico’s National Guard were caught red-handed escorting a fuel tanker being loaded with stolen gasoline from an illegal tap drilled directly into a Pemex pipeline. Three official government vehicles idled next to the siphon. The guards claimed they were “providing security” to the truck. And they were, just not for the Mexican state.

This is no longer about some desperate folks with jerry cans. Fuel theft—huachicol—is the second most profitable operation for Mexico’s organized crime networks, right behind narcotrafficking. And increasingly, it’s being run with state-sanctioned uniforms and federally issued rifles.

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