Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said Sunday that federal authorities had dismantled a major fuel theft ring, arresting a total of 32 people in simultaneous operations in Mexico City, México state and Querétaro.
Carried out last Friday, the operations allowed authorities to “dismantle one of the main criminal organizations dedicated to the theft and illicit commercialization of fuel in the central area of the country,” García Harfuch told a press conference on Sunday.
The criminal group mainly stole fuel from pipelines operated by state oil company Pemex, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday.
García Harfuch said that authorities identified “the main leaders” of the criminal group, the places where it stole fuel and the transportation routes it used as a result of “intelligence and investigation work” carried out over a period of more than six months.
He said that authorities obtained warrants for the arrest of seven people “linked to these activities,” but detained a total of 32 people during the operations to execute said warrants.
“Six of the seven arrest warrants were executed,” García Harfuch said, adding that “the main leaders” of the fuel theft ring were among those detained.
“According to the investigations, this criminal group was led by Cirio Sergio ‘N,’ and Luis Miguel ‘N’ and had an area of operation in México state, Hidalgo and Querétaro, where they coordinated fuel theft on a large scale,” the security minister said.
“Their modus operandi consisted of perforating pipelines for the extraction of LP gas and gasoline,” García Harfuch said, adding that the criminal group stored the stolen fuel in warehouses and delivered it to gas stations.
“They had an illegal distribution network to these gas stations,” he added.
The two top alleged leaders of the fuel theft ring — both of whom face organized crime charges — were identified in media reports as Cirio Sergio Rebollo Mendoza, known as “Don Checo,” and Luis Miguel Ortega Maldonado, nicknamed “Flaco de Oro.”
García Harfuch said that 15 of the 32 suspects, including Rebollo Mendoza, were detained in Ixtlahuaca, a México state municipality located north of state capital Toluca. Rebollo Mendoza’s son, Diego Rebollo González, was also arrested.
Ortega Maldonado was detained in the Mexico City borough of Tlalpan, the security minister said.
The other 16 suspects were detained in other México state municipalities and Querétaro.
Twenty-four of the suspects are men and eight are women, including Heréndira “N,” identified as a logistical and financial operator for the criminal group. The alleged fuel thieves were arrested in operations carried out by more than 700 members of the Mexican Army, the Navy, the National Guard and federal and state police forces.
Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero praised the coordination of the different security forces in both the investigation into the fuel theft ring and the execution of the simultaneous operations on Friday.
Resultado de más de seis meses de trabajos de inteligencia e investigación, elementos del Gabinete de Seguridad @GabSeguridadMX @FGRMexico y @Pemex Logística, desmantelaron una de las principales redes criminales dedicadas al robo y comercialización ilícita de hidrocarburo en la… pic.twitter.com/asxtKA9bNb
— Omar H Garcia Harfuch (@OHarfuch) June 29, 2025
The criminal group allegedly operated in collaboration with authorities, including municipal police. Federal authorities said in a statement that there is evidence that Heréndira “N,” who was detained in Querétaro, “established agreements with authorities.”
The newspaper Reforma said that one of the detained suspects, Israel Molina Núñez, is a police commander in Jilotepec, México state.
García Harfuch said that authorities hadn’t established any links between the fuel theft ring and Mexico’s notorious cartels, which are involved in a range of criminal activities beyond drug trafficking.
Cash, vehicles, guns and exotic animals seized
García Harfuch told reporters that during the raids carried out last Friday authorities took possession of 12 different properties that “functioned as centers for criminal operations.”
He read out a long list of items seized by authorities at the 12 properties, including 21 tractor-trailers, 14 semi-trailers, eight tanker trucks, 48 cars (some of which were armored), a bus, 12 motorbikes, 36 firearms, illegal drugs, “boxes of controlled medication” and almost 16 million pesos (about US $850,000) in cash.
“Various exotic animals were also rescued,” said García Harfuch.
Among the exotic animals that were rescued and placed in the care of the environmental protection agency Profepa were a jaguar cub, a lion cub, parrots and spider monkeys. García Harfuch said that authorities also seized horses, ponies, pigs and dogs at the properties.
He said that two perforations on pipelines where the criminal group stole fuel were closed off. Both the perforations, known in Mexico as “tomas clandestinas,” were located in México state.
11 alleged fuel thieves arrested in Coahuila
García Harfuch also reported on Sunday that authorities had arrested 11 people and seized almost 2 million liters of fuel in an operation carried out in Coahuila.
“Following up on lines of investigation developed after the seizure of a ship and 10 million liters of fuel in Tampico, Tamaulipas, on March 29, 2025, a search was carried out in Saltillo, Coahuila, where a property used to store freight vehicles and containers was located,” he said.
“… Almost 2 million liters of fuel was recovered,” García Harfuch said.
“In this operation, 11 people were also detained and seven pumps, 11 tanks, 20 tanker trucks [and] seven tractor-trailers were seized,” he said.
García Harfuch said that “the dismantling” of the fuel theft rings in central Mexico and in Coahuila “doesn’t just affect their operational and financial capacity, but also reaffirms the commitment of this government in the fight against impunity.”
🚨 @Claudiashein confirma investigaciones por huachicol: Informó que la FGR y el gabinete de seguridad indagan posibles vínculos entre autoridades y una red de robo de combustible
📣https://t.co/K8KooLAYdQ pic.twitter.com/S8f5Rm89aE
— POSTA México (@PostaMexico) June 30, 2025
Sheinbaum: ‘The objective is to eradicate stolen fuel’
At her Monday morning press conference, President Sheinbaum acknowledged the work that preceded the operations to arrest the alleged fuel thieves in central Mexico.
“It was an investigation of around six months of work,” she said.
Sheinbaum noted that authorities have also acted against the smuggling of illicit fuel into the country via sea and land ports.
“The objective is to eradicate huachicol, completely,” she said, using the colloquial word for stolen or illicit fuel.
“President [Andrés Manuel] López Obrador made a lot of progress and we’re providing continuity and managing to investigate even more,” Sheinbaum said.
She noted that the alleged collaboration of authorities with the recently “dismantled” fuel theft ring in central Mexico is under investigation.
A reporter asked the president how the involvement of authorities in fuel theft can be combated.
“We’re doing it,” Sheinbaum responded.
“If we weren’t this very important blow [against a major fuel theft group] wouldn’t have occurred,” she said.
“… It’s daily work. It’s not as if we reach a point and everything ends,” Sheinbaum said.
The dismantling of the fuel theft network in central Mexico comes after authorities shut down a clandestine oil refinery in Veracruz earlier this month. Late last month, municipal police in Guanajuato arrested 11 National Guard members who were caught in the act of filling up a tanker truck with stolen fuel.
With reports from El Universal, La Jornada, El Financiero, Reforma and Diario Cambio 22
