Authorities in Mexico discovered the bodies of nine men inside vehicles near a state fuel line on January 9, 2024. Initial investigations suggest a likely connection to fuel theft, a prevalent issue in the region.
The vehicles, found by San Juan del Rio’s police chief, Ángel Rangel Nieves, were parked near a pipeline north of Mexico City. The cars bore license plates from Hidalgo, a state notorious for high rates of fuel theft.
Since December 2018, when President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office, he has prioritized tackling fuel theft. Despite deploying thousands of soldiers to protect pipelines, illegal taps continue, with around 5,600 reported in 2023. This figure, while lower than the 7,000 recorded in previous years, is similar to the number reported at the start of López Obrador’s term.
The crackdown on the stolen fuel trade initially led to a drop in sales. Stolen fuel is often sold by roadside vendors and, at times, even at legitimate gas stations. Petroleos Mexicanos, the national oil company, reported a decrease in losses due to theft, hitting a low of $275 million annually in 2019 and 2020. However, these losses skyrocketed to over $1.1 billion in 2022.
Besides financial losses, unauthorized pipeline access poses significant safety risks to local communities and often triggers violent clashes among criminal gangs. Thieves have been known to leave pipeline taps open to gain local community support. This tactic led to a tragic incident on January 18, 2019, in the town of Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo. A pipeline explosion, caused by illegal access, resulted in the deaths of at least 134 people who had gathered to collect the leaking fuel.
The problem of fuel theft extends beyond Mexico’s borders. Last October, an incident involving cartel gunmen asking for “protection money” and allegedly forcing truck drivers to give up their fuel was reported in Matamoros, a city close to Brownsville, Texas.