The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL), including the freezing of accounts and assets. The measures aim to curb fuel theft (huachicol) along the U.S.-Mexico border, fueled by the energy sector in the state of Guanajuato and the involvement of individuals from Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
In a statement, the Treasury Department detailed that the vast majority of this group’s income, already designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, comes from illicit activities related to fuel and oil theft in Guanajuato.
“The CSRL’s activities also contribute to enabling a cross-border black market for energy, undermine legitimate U.S. oil and natural gas companies, and deprive the Mexican government of critical revenue. Simultaneously, OFAC sanctioned José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, the CSRL’s leader,” the U.S. authority stated.
The Treasury Department insisted that the violent conflict between the CSRL and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) for control of fuel and oil in Guanajuato has made the state one of the deadliest in Mexico, triggering a sustained escalation of violence.
This is how this black market operates, involving Pemex employees.
For the administration of President Donald Trump, fuel theft, including the smuggling of crude oil, “known colloquially in Mexico as huachicol,” is currently the most important non-drug-related source of income for Mexican cartels.
“Thieves in Mexico, known as huachicoleros, use various methods to steal fuel and crude oil from the state-owned energy company, Pemex, primarily by bribing corrupt Pemex employees. Other methods include illegally tapping into pipelines, theft from refineries, hijacking tanker trucks, and directly threatening Pemex workers,” states an analysis by the Treasury Department.
According to the document, the stolen fuel is sold on the black market in various regions of Mexico, the United States, and Central America, which also facilitates money laundering.
In the case of crude oil, it is smuggled into the United States through colluding Mexican intermediaries and is frequently falsely labeled as “waste oil” or other hazardous materials to evade oversight, taxes, and regulations.
Subsequently, the stolen crude oil is delivered to colluding U.S. importers in the oil and natural gas industry, operating near the U.S. southwest border.
These actors sell it at significant discounts in the U.S. and global energy markets before repatriating the substantial illicit profits back to the cartels in Mexico.
“Through these schemes, Mexican cartels steal billions of dollars from Pemex, fuel high levels of violence and corruption throughout Mexico, and undermine the competitiveness of legitimate U.S. oil and natural gas companies,” the U.S. authority stated.
In recent years, as Mexican cartels have increased their involvement in fuel theft activities, the Mexican government has reported billions of dollars in lost revenue as a result of fuel theft.
