Mexico seized 37.1mn liters (233,350 bl) of illicit fuel and identified nearly 2,000 illegal pipeline taps for the 10 months through June this year, President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration said in its second annual report to the nation.
The crackdown included more than 8,000 inspections, 159 blocked irregular import operations and 118 criminal cases, combining fuel traceability, tax enforcement, security operations and technological monitoring, from 1 September 2025 through 30 June this year.
Authorities also prevented 1,419 attempted hydrocarbon thefts and seized 1,938 illegal pipeline taps, 96 tank trucks, 91 railcars, 505 light vehicles and one vessel. Authorities made 76 arrests linked to illicit fuel activities over the period.
The current strategy builds on an anti-fuel theft campaign launched by former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in December 2018. His government deployed the armed forces to state-owned Pemex facilities and closed vulnerable pipelines in an effort largely focused on physical fuel theft. Sheinbaum's administration has broadened the response to include customs fraud, tax evasion, fuel traceability and financial networks.
Fuel theft and smuggling have become a source of revenue for Mexican drug cartels, extending Mexico's long-running fight against organized crime into the energy sector. The US Treasury said in June that the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartel networks use shell companies, falsified customs documents and false invoices to avoid Mexican fuel-import taxes. The proceeds help finance drug trafficking and corruption.
Authorities monitored 47,401 gasoline and diesel transport units and 33,512 LPG units using QR codes, according to the second report. They also detected 3,109 cases of incorrect tariff classification involving oil products. This form of fiscal fuel smuggling involves importing gasoline or diesel under categories such as lubricants or additives, allowing importers to evade the fuel excise tax and fuel-specific import requirements. The government said correcting the classifications helped strengthen tax collection.
The annual report also covers the government's security strategy, anti-corruption efforts, social programs, infrastructure, energy and environmental policy
Tax authority SAT said on 2 September that it has revoked the ability of 2,205 fuel-trading companies to issue invoices from October 2024 to August 2026 because they were selling fuel illegally. SAT said the measure is part of efforts to combat tax evasion and smuggling.
The government plans to further strengthen fiscal controls through the 2027 economic package. Sheinbaum said on Thursday that the package will propose tracking IEPS payments on fuel from import through distribution and final sale, helping authorities identify tax evasion linked to fiscal fuel theft. The proposal would not change the tax rate, and SAT is developing the mechanism.
State-owned Pemex and the finance ministry's financial intelligence unit UIF signed an information-sharing agreement on 27 August aimed at detecting money laundering, corruption, fraud and hydrocarbon theft.
The agreement allows Pemex to request financial intelligence when screening prospective contractors or clients. The UIF will also have access to Pemex information to identify potential financial and corporate risks.
The agreement adds financial intelligence and contractor screening to a strategy that increasingly combines physical enforcement with customs controls, fuel traceability and monitoring across Mexico's fuel supply chain.
