MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican authorities said they seized more than 3 million liters (792,516 gallons) of illegally stored fuel at a property in the country’s southeast state of Tabasco, the latest in a string of major fuel-related seizures across the country.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The seizure on Thursday is part of Mexico’s ongoing battle against fuel smuggling, which includes both the theft of fuel from state-run oil firm Pemex’s pipelines and imports under false classifications to evade taxes.
KEY QUOTES
“Eighteen vehicles, three pieces of machinery, and 3,904 metal-structured containers containing the hydrocarbon, identified as a petroleum derivative, were secured,” Mexico’s security cabinet said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday the seizures have to do with a recent system of “traceability” of fuel imports from their origin until they reach the point of sale.
CONTEXT
State-owned Pemex has for years faced rampant theft of crude and refined products through illegal pipeline taps across Mexico, resulting in massive losses.
BY THE NUMBERS
Over the past weeks, authorities have discovered 1.5 million liters of fuels in two raids in the state of Tabasco and 10 million liters in the state of Tamaulipas from a ship from the United States that had arrived weeks before in Mexico.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
