Millions of Dollars Lost Daily Due to Widespread Fuel Theft in Mexico Ricardo Martinez - GlobalPost
go to original October 18, 2016

VICE News sent Suroosh Alvi to Mexico to see the effects of cartel oil theft firsthand. (VICE)

Mexico is opening up to private gasoline retailers, and a new wave of fuel imported from the United States is expected to follow.

But here’s a not-so-little problem: Gangs steal a huge amount of gas, and loose law enforcement and corruption let it happen.

For the past decade or so, there’ve been widespread reports of drug cartels putting illegal taps in the fuel pipeline network. The state-run oil company Pemex has documented that some of its workers and contractors have participated, after receiving bribes or even death threats.

The government has tried to step up security, including a yearly budget increase for a military task force in charge of eradicating fuel theft, but they're still no match for the level of theft. The number of illegal taps nationwide has soared — by over 3,500 percent since 2000, according to data provided to us through multiple reports by Pemex and other agencies.

Mexico ranks as one of the hardest-hit countries by fuel theft in the world. An average of 20,000 barrels of fuel is stolen there per day — about three times the daily gas consumption of Washington, DC. That's a loss for the country of as much as $4 million daily.

In an effort to reduce siphoning, Pemex stopped moving ready-to-use fuels through its pipelines. Instead, it now carries raw products from refineries to storage terminals. Once there, they are processed and then distributed throughout the country in tanker trucks for commercial purposes.

That change simply shifted the target. Now, thieves come directly to Pemex's storage facilities, fill up fuel by the truckload and drive off. More than half of the fuel stolen in Mexico is being taken that way, according to the company.

Read the rest at Public Radio International

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