Overview

• U.S. agencies including the FBI, DEA and HSI have opened probes into transnational networks evading taxes on refined Mexican crude, estimating weekly losses near 200 million pesos.
• Operation Top Fuel has led to the arrest of a Utah family accused of smuggling at least $300 million in Mexican crude in collusion with cartels such as the CJNG.
• The U.S. Embassy in Mexico launched an information campaign detailing how stolen crude is moved to Texas, refined and re-imported through falsified documents and shell companies.
• Mexico’s Navy (Semar) has seized over 14.3 million liters of illicit hydrocarbons and disrupted 328 clandestine taps since October 2024 during intensified marine operations.
• Both governments have imposed sanctions on implicated firms and banks and are deploying new traceability mechanisms at ports and customs to stem fiscal fraud.