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Inside fuel theft , as in the majority of crimes carried out by criminal organizations , there are people at the end of the last link in the chain: those who fill up containers or those who sell the fuel .
The few on top of the pyramid are the ones who are benefited the most and who make millions thanks to corruption and the looting of public assets . They are high-ranking officials that ignore fuel theft , they are c riminals leaders who collude with the authorities , they are large companies that acquire fuel illegally.
How should the government proceed if criminals act in a way that doesn't leave any evidence? The recommendations experts have issued for decades is to follow the money trail . Invariably, the illegal resources will be reflected on their bank accounts , whether personal or from family members, or in their purchases.
On Monday, the f ederal government released information about those allegedly involved in fuel theft . Cross-referencing of information between the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Tax Administration Service was enough to find inconsistencies.
From the taxpayers associated with gas stations, 194 registered “relevant fiscal inconsistencies in regards to income tax for a total of MXN $3,217 million.” Over 50% of that amount of money corresponds to gas stations located in Mexico City, Michoacán, Mexico, Tamaulipas, Baja California, Jalisco, and Puebla .
They also found taxpayers linked to fuel theft and who have unusual financial practices. It was explained that there are gas stations whose sales are higher than the amount of fuel they bought from Pemex and from personal imports . The bank system reported relevant or unusual operations linked to these gas stations and in its first revision, it found movements for MXN $10,000 million, which is nothing else but money laundering . Several bank accounts were frozen, some investigations will dig deeper, and others will take place.
In the fight against any crime , intelligence work , understood as the gathering and processing of data, will always be more efficient and “cleaner” results than using force or a police deployment against criminal groups .
Both must support each other and work coordinately. Until now, this relatively unexplored option must become a path to solve the problems in the country.
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