Politics · Mexico · 2 hrs ago
Experts urge stronger fuel-smuggling checks at Mexico's customs and Pemex refineries
Energy experts urged stronger checks on fuel smuggling at Mexico’s customs points and Pemex refineries.
Rocío Robles of Lobbying México said the illicit trade, especially in diesel, starts at customs rather than with compliant companies.
She called for closer checks on imported fuel and for authorities to compare information held in their databases.
Robles also recommended tighter supervision at Pemex refineries to confirm that the fuel produced matches what is sold and to prevent unexplained losses.
She said practices involving Pemex union “white tanker trucks” had been linked to fuel losses and still continued.
Robles also warned against unsupported accusations, citing a storage plant in Guanajuato that was accused of fuel smuggling despite having its permits in order.
Energy specialist Aldo Vargas said weak measurement controls can attract scrutiny from automated systems, and the experts called for stronger checks, not unfounded allegations.
Experts urged stronger checks on fuel imports at Mexico’s customs and oversight at Pemex refineries.
Rocío Robles said fuel smuggling, especially diesel, originates at customs rather than at regulated companies.
She called for closer inspection of imported products and authorities’ databases.
Robles also said refinery oversight could help ensure that the product refined is the product sold and prevent unexplained losses.
Energy specialist Aldo Vargas said formal-sector fuel regulations are strict, and warned that control failures can draw authorities’ attention.
- Who
- Sector experts Rocío Robles and Aldo Vargas.
- What
- They urged stronger checks at customs and greater oversight at Pemex refineries to combat fuel smuggling and losses.
- When
- Robles spoke during Semana del Combustible 2026. The article was published on October 23, 2026.
- Where
- At Mexico’s customs and Pemex refineries.
- Why
- To curb fuel smuggling and help prevent unexplained fuel losses.
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- Publication date
- October 23, 2026
- Fuel highlighted
- Diesel
- Robles’s organization
- Lobbying México
- Vargas’s company
- Kernotek
- Industry event
- Semana del Combustible 2026
What people are saying
Smuggling begins at customs, not at companies that are complying with increasingly demanding regulation.
It was an authorized theft, and those practices still exist today.
A lapse in these controls puts the permit holder in the red zone with the authority, which will use automated systems to review the information and act without considering whether it was a simple measurement error.