Federal Police have arrested the wife of a mayor in the state of Puebla on suspicion of petroleum theft in a crackdown on huachicoleros, as the thieves are known.

Police searched homes in Villa Lázaro Cárdenas in the municipality of Venustiano Carranza, turning up six firearms, 10 vehicles and more than 50,000 liters of stolen fuel.

One of the houses searched is owned by Mayor Rafael Valencia Ávila. Inside, police seized several firearms, ammunition and two vehicles and arrested the mayor’s wife, Ilse Bernabé Gutiérrez, 27.

Whereabouts of the mayor, who was a target of the search, are unknown.

Police also found a room containing surveillance equipment used to monitor the area.

In another home, police arrested Omar Daniel “El Kakas” Romero Morales, 33, believed to be one of the principal petroleum thieves in the area, and his wife, Griselda Cabrera Valencia, 33.

Here they found more firearms and the stolen fuel.

A search of a third house yielded more firearms, vehicles, bulletproof vests, wrapped packages of marijuana and methamphetamine and drums containing about 300 liters of fuel.

Source: Milenio (sp), Eje Central (sp)