Mexico arrests ex-governor in billion-dollar fuel trafficking operation, officials confirm.
MEXICO CITY: Mexico on Thursday arrested a former state governor identified as one of the leaders of a billion-dollar smuggling ring, authorities said.
Trafficking of stolen fuel is one of the most lucrative criminal activities in Mexico, alongside the drug trade.
Ernesto Ruffo, a former governor of the border state of Baja California, was arrested following “a highly complex investigation related to large-scale fuel smuggling operations,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
It is “the largest fuel smuggling network detected to date,” Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said in a video statement.
The smuggling operations were carried out by a port services company founded by Ruffo, Godoy said.
The company formally imported petroleum products from the United States, but upon arrival in Mexico, it declared smaller quantities or products different from those being transported, she said.
The fuel was then distributed mainly in the northern states of the country, bypassing customs controls, before being transported to other regions, she added.
According to Godoy, the network’s financial movements show transfers of more than 3 billion pesos (around $170 million) and foreign-exchange operations totaling over $1.3 billion.
In September, authorities arrested a vice admiral and five sailors from Mexico’s navy as well as former customs officials and businessmen, as part of a crackdown on fuel theft.
