Politics: Huachicol—a never-ending scandal with serious consequences
Huachicol, the theft and smuggling of fuel in Mexico, is a set of illegal markets: theft from Pemex pipelines and terminals, theft of LP gas and crude, and fiscal huachicol, in which US diesel and gasoline enter as additives or lubricants to avoid VAT and IEPS excise tax. Pemex’s official figures capture only physical theft. Independent estimates put the cost during López Obrador’s term at $28.2 billion, of which $17.2 billion fell on Pemex and the rest on the Treasury (SHCP). Losses continued to grow in Sheinbaum’s first year (+6%), and more than 2,500 clandestine taps were detected in early 2026.
The September 2025 scandal revealed that a network run from the Navy Ministry, the “Los Primos” network of the Farías Laguna brothers, had brought in diesel on at least 31 ships between 2023 and 2025. It relied on bribes of 1.75 million pesos per unloading, switched-off cameras and falsified inspections, with senior naval officers and customs officials involved. It echoes the earlier Sergio Carmona network, the "Huachicol King", which allegedly financed Morena campaigns. A year later there is little justice. The Navy secretary under AMLO has been protected. A rear admiral who reported the scheme was murdered, along with six other Navy personnel and a prosecutor, with no arrests. Investigations that could reach AMLO’s son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, have not advanced. Meanwhile, the FGR is moving quickly against political opponents such as Ernesto Ruffo.
The US is now treating huachicol as a national security matter, with the CJNG designated a terrorist organization, criminal cases in Texas, OFAC sanctions and FinCEN alerts. In Mexico, a lack of comprehensive strategy, weak investigative capacity and political barriers around AMLO and Morena are keeping the problem and the scandal alive.
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