Mexico

Mexico, September 21, 2026. While Paris convenes a meeting at Matignon and Washington sees diesel fuel surpass $6.50 per gallon, the Mexican press is not talking about shortages or taxes: it's talking about organized theft. El Financiero reveals that the US Treasury Department has identified gas stations linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), founded by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and led since the death of "El Mencho" on February 22 by his son-in-law Juan Carlos Valencia, aka "El 03" or "El Pelón". The "huachicol", the theft of fuel from Pemex pipelines, is one of the cartel's main sources of non-drug related income. According to the OFAC, the stations are registered in the name of close relatives or trusted employees to evade financial authorities; the network has been detected in at least three states, Jalisco, Veracruz, and Michoacán, where Iván Cazarín Molina, alias "El Tanque", right-hand man in charge of plundering clandestine taps on the pipelines crossing Veracruz, stored fuel in tanks with a capacity of several million liters before selling it through eleven gas stations. On the same day, El Financiero and El Informador report the seizure of over 59 million liters of unaccredited fuel in San José Iturbide, Guanajuato: regular, premium, and diesel fuel, discovered during a judicial search. The Simsa group denies owning the site, but the Fiscalía General de la República has transferred the case to its unit specializing in organized crime, due to a lack of documentation proving the legitimacy of the origin, management, and destination of the seized hydrocarbon. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced upcoming arrests during his morning press conference. La Jornada, meanwhile, looks to Bolivia: the total elimination of diesel subsidies over the weekend has caused prices to skyrocket and prompted transporters to announce mobilizations, a day after the extension of the state of exception for 90 days. For the Mexican press, expensive diesel is not primarily a matter of the Strait of Ormuz or refineries on strike: it's a question of territorial control, Pemex circuits, and fiscal traceability of hydrocarbons that cartels and authorities are disputing.