"The Battle Plan" vs. Gasoline Theft Fails

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Clandestine takeovers increase 32%

More than five thousand clandestine seizures have been detected in the country. 

Despite the implementation of the national strategy against hydrocarbon theft and that allowed the detection of clandestine takeovers to decrease during 2019 and 2020, in 2021 the situation has been contrary, as illegal fuel intakes have increased by 32% nationwide.

Only 27% of clandestine seizures have been reported.

According to the report "And how are we doing with the complaints? Clandestine seizures in pipelines and pipes in the field of hydrocarbon", prepared by the Institute for the Management, Administration and Municipal Linkage based on data from Mexican Petroleum obtained through requests for access to information.

It was determined that during 2021 clandestine seizures have increased in the country and the states of Hidalgo, Puebla, State of Mexico and Guanajuato are

The report indicates that fuel theft in entities such as Hidalgo, Puebla and the State of Mexico increased during the first half of the year. For example, in Hidalgo 2,244 clandestine seizures were detected during the first half of 2021, when in the same period of 2020 there were 1,823 illegal seizures located.

In Puebla the case is similar, since in the first half of 2021 1,81 illegal fuel taps of Mexican Petroleum pipelines were detected, compared to 168 in the same period last year.

The detection of clandestine seizures in the country increased.

In the State of Mexico there was also an increase in clandestine hydrocarbon intakes, with 775 detected during the first half of 2021, compared to 595 the previous year.

However, the case of Guanajuato is to attract attention, because while in the first half of 2020 304 clandestine seizures were detected, in the first half of 2021 163 were located; the case of Guanajuato stands out, because throughout 2017 and all of 2018 it was the state that registered the most clandestine seizures nationwide, with 1,852 and 1,919 cases, respectively, to the extent that the crime of hydrocarbon theft generated a dispute between the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel for the theft of gasoline through pipelines of Pemex.

The report prepared by the Institute for Municipal Management, Administration and Linkage also reveals that in states such as Tlaxcala, Baja California, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Querétaro and Chiapas clandestine seizures increased during the first half of 2021 compared to 2020.

In the first half of 2018, seven,590 clandestine hydrocarbon intakes were detected in the country. 

The following year and with the beginning of the strategy against fuel theft that even generated a shortage of fuel due to the closure of pipelines, particularly in the central area of the country, clandestine seizures decreased, there were 4,984 in the first half of that year; in 2020, in the first six months four thousand and four clandestine seizures were detected. But for 2021 there was that increase of 32%, since 5,289 were detected in that period.

Despite the national strategy, the theft of pipeline hydrocarbon continues.

Every 49 minutes a clandestine seizure was detected in the country

The report by the Institute for Municipal Management, Administration and Linkage also revealed that on average, every 49 minutes with 41 seconds a clandestine takeover was detected in the country.

Hidalgo, having the highest number of clandestine seizures, was the state where on average every hour with 57 minutes the illegal fuel tap of a duct was detected.

In Puebla the period is longer, every four hours and 57 minutes a clandestine fuel tap was detected, while in the State of Mexico fuel theft was detected through Pemex pipelines every five hours and 39 minutes; in the case of Guanajuato the period was longer and every 26 hours with 52 minutes an illegal hydrocarbon fuel intake was detected.

Only 27% of clandestine seizures are reported

The Institute for Municipal Management, Administration and Linkage also announced in its report that of the five,289 clandestine seizures detected in the first half of the year, only 1,435 of these cases were investigated, when a folder was initiated for this crime.

Hidalgo is the state with the most complaints initiated for the crime of hydrocarbon theft, although only 393 of the 2,244 detected were reported.

In the State of Mexico, 301, in Puebla 266 and in Michoacán 112 were reported and are thus the five states with the most investigations initiated by the clandestine seizures detected and for the crime of hydrocarbon theft.

However, the Institute for Municipal Management, Administration and Linkage detected an inconsistency in entities such as Veracruz and Mexico City, where in both cases there were more complaints than clandestine seizures detected. 

For example, in the case of Veracruz there were 88 complaints initiated, but only 87 illegal fuel intakes were detected, while in Mexico City there were eight complaints, but three were detected.

"Every time, that different state and federal authorities participate in the monitoring of the incidence of pipelines, it is necessary and urgent that all those involved know the correct traceability of the records, their territorial scope and the justification and conclusion of the complaints," concluded the study of the Institute for Municipal Management, Administration and Linkage.

El Sol de Irapuato