Mexico prosecutes three army officers over $144 million fuel smuggling

The Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) has issued arrest warrants for three Mexican Army officers — Lt. Colonels Armando Barrera Trujillo and Blas Pedro Sarabia García, and Military Police Lt. Jorge García García — accused of facilitating the illegal entry of more than 144 million liters of diesel, gasoline and naphtha through the Matamoros customs complex between June 2024 and July 2025. The fuel was falsely declared as a calcium‑chloride solution to evade customs duties. The officers, who oversaw the customs office during that period, remain fugitives. The investigation ties the operation to a criminal network led by businessman Armando III Riestra Fernández and implicates the companies Jumandi Group and Ferroservicios, which imported the illicit hydrocarbons. Seven of the thirteen suspects have already been detained; the rest are in high‑security federal prisons. Deputy Ricardo Monreal, noting the scale of the scandal, said, “Siento que es tan profundo el problema de corrupción en las aduanas mexicanas que se creyó que con un cambio de mando militar se terminaría, pero no fue así.” The case is described as the largest “huachicol fiscal” (fuel‑tax evasion) scheme uncovered to date in Mexico.