With much fanfare, federal authorities on Sept. 17 announced what they called the biggest-ever single-site seizure of stolen fuel in Mexico’s history.
Almost immediately, however, the case unraveled, prompting the federal government to quietly begin backtracking after the owner of the storage facility presented documentation that it was operating legitimately.
#EnLaMañanera | Omar García Harfuch confirmó que Juan Francisco Vera, delegado de la FGR en #Guanajuato, fue destituido de su cargo tras la detección de anomalías en el operativo que llevó al supuesto decomiso de 59 millones de combustible huachicol pic.twitter.com/Ol2P16dsaI
— El Financiero (@ElFinanciero_Mx) September 25, 2026
On Friday, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch confirmed that the federal prosecutor spearheading the case had been fired, while the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) continues to verify that all the fuel found at the San José Iturbide, Guanajuato, facility is lawfully stored.
The same day the bust was announced, Grupo SIMSA — the owner of the storage facility — issued a statement declaring it was operating legally and was duly registered with state, local and federal entities.
Acknowledging the legitimacy of the documents, the FGR quietly modified its proceedings, shifting the terms of the case from a seizure to an embargo while it investigated the source and traceability of the 59 million liters of fuel in question.
At the same time, officials from the Morena party who now govern the municipality of San José Iturbide were pointing fingers at the opposition party officials who had granted permits to SIMSA over the years, insinuating corruption was involved.
More than a week later, the FGR continues to examine the documents of the companies storing fuel at the facility, which according to market sources, include ExxonMobil, Marathon and Shell.
The details of the bust have also come under scrutiny.
Local authorities took up the case on Sept. 3 after a trucker unloading fuel at a gas station could not produce traceability documentation. Prosecutors tracked the truck to the San José Iturbide facility and closed it down the following day.
The facility was allowed to reopen on Sept. 10, only for the bust to be announced a week later.
On Sept. 18 (and again on Thursday), President Claudia Sheinbaum said the FGR was investigating and more details would be available once the probe was complete, though she did not mention that the case was no longer being handled as a seizure.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that one source of confusion involved the original warrant which was mistakenly issued for Gas del Noreste (Northeast Gas) and not Gas del Noroeste (Northwest Gas), a SIMSA subsidiary that manages the facility.
As a result of the errors, Juan Francisco Vera — FGR delegate in Guanajuato — was fired and could potentially be prosecuted, while Guanajuato Security Minister Juan Mauro González and state Attorney General Gerardo Vázquez are also under investigation.
With reports from El Universal, La Jornada, Proceso and El País
