MCALLEN, Texas – Mexico’s government owned oil company has dealt a heavy blow to Mexican drug cartels who use stolen fuel to supplement their income.
In the cities along the Texas border, the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas have become very skilled at tapping into fuel pipelines in order to steal tankers of gas and diesel. The cartels then sell the stolen fuel in plastic jugs on street corners at a fraction of the cost, according to a Tamaulipas law enforcement official who asked for anonymity citing security concerns.
The sale of stolen fuels has become so pervasive that it is one of the main money makers for drug cartels, the official said. As Breitbart Texas previously reported, a Texas woman along with her boyfriend and her two brothers were kidnapped and killed in Mexico by Gulf Cartel members. The woman’s boyfriend had been in charge of fuel theft and sales for the criminal organization in the Mexican town of Control. He had a falling out with a local cartel boss after he failed to pay for a lost tanker.
In response to the overwhelming theft of fuel, Mexico’s government owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) announced that they were changing their practices to help reduce fuel theft, a news release that Pemex provided to Breitbart Texas revealed.
To curb fuel theft, the company will only move unrefined fuel through their pipelines; the unfinished fuel would then be processed at the regional plants, the news released revealed.
“This is why it is recommended that motorists make sure that the fuel they are buying comes from Pemex stations and not purchase fuel or diesel from unauthorized retailers since the process is not finished, their vehicles could sustain damages,” Pemex said in their release.