Pemex has reported that Mexican drug cartels are stealing some US$ 715 million worth of oil annually by tapping into the country’s pipelines. The number of cartel pipeline taps has quadrupled since 2004, from 102 to 462 last year. Thieves stole an average of 8432 barrels of petroleum products each day in 2009 - enough to fill 39 tanker trucks. In 2008 officials arrested 528 people and seized 517 vehicles as a result of illegal activity.
The yellow signs reading ‘PEMEX LINE - DO NOT EXCAVATE’ that dot the landscape across the Sierra Madre foothills make the buried pipelines easy to find. The thieves in question are known as the Zetas; a band of hit men that broke off from the Gulf Drug Cartel two years ago. According to state officials, the Zetas dabble in everything from pirated DVDs to kidnappings for ransom.
According to a local newspaper, some of the stolen oil has ended up in the United States, where gangs sell the fuel to “unscrupulous manufacturers”, trucking firms or foreign refiners on the black market. In late May, police found a huge secret oil depot near the town of Tierra Blanca with four underground storage tanks and hoses for filling tanker trucks. The thieves covered their equipment with blankets soaked with air freshener to hide the smell of oil. Pemex says the thieves use powerful drills and sophisticated valves to prevent any drop in pipeline pressure that the oil company might detect.
It has been reported that Executives from five Texas companies have confessed in a US district court that they have bought millions of dollars of natural-gas condensate stolen from Pemex.
Many of Mexico's drug cartels have acquired gasoline stations and liquefied-petroleum suppliers as a way of laundering drug money. This is an ideal way for them to deposit huge amounts of cash into banks without raising suspicion, as most Mexican motorists pay in cash. Cartels have been using the money from the stolen oil to buy weapons, bribe officials and fund their battle against the Mexican government.
The government says it has tightened security at its pumping stations and stepped up aerial patrols in an effort to stem the theft. In addition, Mexico's Department of Energy has set up a telephone hotline for people to report theft.