"Fuel Theft" Soars In Jalisco During Lopez Obrador's Six-Year Term Of Office

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from EL OCCIDENTAL 

Investing in technology to combat this crime is a must

Román Ortega

Fuel theft in clandestine Pemex pipelines, also known as “huachicol”, shot up by up to 279 percent in Jalisco during the recently ended federal administration of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador compared to the six-year term of former President Enrique Peña Nieto, despite López Obrador's assurances that his administration would put an end to this illicit activity.

Data from Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) obtained through transparency indicate that during the six years of Enrique Peña Nieto's administration there were 173 fuel leaks in Pemex pipelines, while during López Obrador's term the figure was 656, which represents an increase of 279%.

In the case of leaks, Luis Campos warns that they represent a greater risk for the communities near the points where the fuel comes out of the pipelines due to its high level of flammability.

“The risk is that it is a highly flammable material and to the extent that a person is unaware that there was a fuel leak and there is an ignition point, which is what fire experts say, that is what will generate the contingency. I believe that the only issue is the information and to be aware of something in writing”.

Official figures provided to El OCCIDENTAL show that clandestine pipeline tapping detected in Jalisco increased 65%, that is, 5,293 illegal tappings were registered during the period of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, while during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto there were 3,205.

Luis Campos, a public safety specialist at the Universidad Panamericana, points out that there are not enough personnel to monitor the pipelines, which is why monitoring systems must be implemented that are capable of detecting when there is low pressure, as a result of a fuel tap or leak, so that federal security forces can act quickly.

He stressed that for the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador it was not a priority to invest in technology that would allow detecting any “picket” in the pipelines.

“The investment to be able to monitor the length and breadth of the pipelines is an important investment. And here, the truth is that the money has been allocated to other issues and for prevention in the case of huachicol, it has apparently not been a priority, has it not? You have the figures and the figures, as in an operation, as in sales, are cold. The numbers are cold here, like for the suits.”

CHART :

EPN AMLO VARIATION

LEAKS IN CLANDESTINE OUTLETS 173 656 279 % +

CLANDESTINE OUTLETS SECURED 3205 5293 65% +

During this year 2024, several gasoline leaks were recorded that alarmed residents of small communities in the municipalities of Tonalá, Zapotlanejo and Tlajomulco de Zúñiga:

The first of these occurred on February 9, with the spill of 5 million liters of gasoline, in the town of Tololotlán in the municipality of Tonalá, which caused the eviction of more than 2,1000 people from Tonalá, El Salto, Zapotlanejo and Juanacatlán.

The jet of fuel raised a cloud of vapors that forced the Secretariat of the Environment to declare an Atmospheric Alert for three municipalities.

That day the residents began to leave to go to their families, starting at 5:30 a.m. after perceiving the strong odors of fuel and made the reports to 911.

“The firefighters arrived and told us to get out of the houses because there was a fuel leak. We didn't take the children to school, we left the house,” Consuelo Vargas, 34, said at the time.

“For me, my head, my eyes and even my stomach started to hurt a lot. I couldn't even eat breakfast because I started to vomit,” explained 60-year-old Alicia Márquez.

Last Friday, July 19, there was a fuel leak in a clandestine outlet of a Pemex pipeline, which forced the evacuation of the towns of La Laja, La Mora and La Mezquitera, in Zapotlanejo.  On that occasion, the hydrocarbon jet reached a height of about 10 meters, which generated a cloud of fuel vapor.  As a result, 207 people had to be evacuated. 

On July 25, another fuel leak occurred in the town of El Capulín, in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga.

On September 3, more than 100 elements of the State Civil Protection Unit of the State, Zapotlanejo and Pemex worked to suppress a diesel leak that occurred in a pipeline of the state-owned company in a plot of land near the community of La Mora, in the municipality of Zapotlanejo.

The then director of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Jalisco, Victor Hugo Roldan, said that there was no need to evacuate the inhabitants of the town, only 360 people from the Miguel Hidalgo elementary school evacuated as a preventive measure, on their own initiative.

SOURCE: EL OCCIDENTAL