With discovery of secret tunnel, Mexican authorities strike blow against black-market fuel trade

Mexican authorities in Hidalgo state discovered and raided a 22-meter-long tunnel used to steal fuel from a state-owned pipeline near the town of Tepetitlan on February 19, 2026, offering a significant blow against the black-market fuel trade dominated by organized crime. The tunnel, found outside a home in rural Hidalgo state, led to two taps connected to an underground pipeline, according to the Hidalgo state attorney's statement, which also mentioned that security forces seized drugs at the location during the operation. Army and National Guard personnel were maintaining guard at the site the following day, with a 'property seized' banner posted near the rural settlement of Sayula. No arrests have been made so far in connection with the tunnel, though authorities have not released further details about the ongoing investigation. While officials did not identify the specific pipeline involved, Reuters analysis of site coordinates matched it to an energy ministry map, confirming it as the conduit owned by state energy company Pemex between the Tula refinery in Hidalgo and the Salamanca refinery in Guanajuato state. The discovery represents a rare successful intervention in Mexico's long-running battle against huachicol—the term for fuel theft—which has evolved from local criminal operations into a violent, multi-billion-dollar business largely controlled by powerful cartels. The sophisticated engineering of the tunnel allowed thieves to siphon fuel without causing pressure drops that would alert Pemex monitoring systems, highlighting the advanced methods employed by criminal organizations. Pemex reported discovering 11,774 illegal taps on its pipelines throughout 2024, demonstrating the scale of the problem facing the state-owned energy company. In a U.S. regulatory filing last year, Pemex acknowledged that their efforts to combat the black-market trade 'have not produced sustained improvement in recent years.' The stolen fuel, typically gasoline and diesel, is often sold locally in glass bottles or plastic canisters at steep discounts to official petrol station prices. The dangers of this illicit trade were tragically highlighted in 2019 when an explosion caused by suspected fuel thieves killed at least 137 people, underscoring both the criminal nature and the deadly consequences of Mexico's fuel theft epidemic.