Rear Admiral Fernando Farías Laguna, a Mexican Navy officer and alleged fuel trafficker, was arrested in Buenos Aires on Thursday and faces extradition.
Wanted by Mexican authorities for his role in a scheme to sell stolen fuel, Farias is the nephew of former Navy Minister Admiral José Rafael Ojeda Durán. He was holding a forged Guatemalan passport when apprehended.
Farías stands accused by Mexican authorities of leading a hydrocarbon trafficking network uncovered in March 2025 when 17 million liters of stolen fuel was seized in a northeastern Mexican port.
A fugitive since skipping out on pre-trial hearings last November, Farías was also the subject of an Interpol red notice for organized crime charges, through which he was wanted in 192 countries.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch attributed the capture to “international information exchange and cooperation mechanisms” that informed a “coordinated operation involving the Naval Intelligence Unit, the Federal Attorney General’s Office and its Organized Crime Unit, Interpol Mexico and the National Intelligence Unit.”
Harfuch also expressed gratitude to Argentine authorities for their collaboration in the operation.
Farías will undergo a recognition hearing to begin extradition proceedings on charges of organized crime and “huachicol fiscal” (falsifying customs documents to introduce fuel and passing it off as another duty-free product, often lubricating oils).
The network, which allegedly involved public officials, private companies and naval personnel, operated in customs offices in Manzanillo, Colima; Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán; and Tampico, Tamaulipas, among others.
The March 31, 2025, bust — six months after their uncle’s term ended — exposed a criminal network led by Farías and his brother Vice Admiral Manuel Roberto Farías (in custody since September).
Investigations revealed a scheme that allowed 31 ships from the U.S. to enter Mexico with approximately 1.5 million liters of fuel per week. The authorities believe the network may have smuggled at least 564 million liters of fuel into Mexico since June 2023.
On Sept. 7, 2025, Manuel Roberto Farías was arrested along with 13 other suspects, including three businessmen, five Marines (one retired) and five customs officials.
At the time, Fernando Farías was out of the country and in October he managed to win an injunction against arrest. A month later, however, an appeals court threw out the injunction and Farías had been a fugitive since.
Hours before Fariás’ arrest in Buenos Aires, Harfuch announced the dismantling of the remainder of the “huachicol” network and 14 additional arrests. Combined, the actions constitute the first large-scale corruption case uncovered by the Sheinbaum administration, a case that shook the Navy from within and greatly weakened the narrative of the incorruptibility of Mexico’s armed forces.
With reports from La Jornada, Infobae, TV Azteca, El País and Proceso
