Mexico’s fuel depot raid backfires as legal permits are revealed

Mexico’s top prosecutors and security forces conducted a raid on a diesel depot in Guanajuato on September 17, confiscating 59 million litres of fuel and touting it as a landmark strike against cartel fuel theft. Omar Garcia Harfuch announced the operation as historic, noting that while no arrests were made at the site, investigations into illegal fuel dealers would continue. Within hours, GRUPO SIMSA issued a statement confirming that its San Jose Iturbide depot possessed all necessary permits from national security, environmental, soil-use and transportation authorities and had been operating legally for nine years.

The company supplied the permit numbers and invited the public to verify the documents in official databases. Analysts suggest the raid was amplified to distract from growing U.S. demands for Mexico to act against corrupt officials linked to cartels, including high-profile cases involving figures such as Ruben Rocha Moya and former Navy Secretary Rafael Ojeda. The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between Mexico’s anti-cartel efforts and political pressures from Washington.