Mexican Cartels Smuggling Oil into U.S.

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08-10-2009, 02:13 PM
Texas2step

Mexican Cartels Smuggling Oil into U.S.

Mexican Cartels Smuggling Oil into U.S.

Monday, August 10, 2009 1:40 PM

MEXICO CITY -- U.S. Justice Department officials say U.S. refineries are buying stolen oil siphoned from Mexican government pipelines and smuggled across the border _ in some cases by drug cartels.

U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials are working together to track the stolen oil, which is hauled by tanker and barge into the United States.

The U.S. government plans to hand over $2.4 million to Mexico on Tuesday following a joint investigation.

Mexican authorities in April seized $46 million from the Zetas, a group of hit men tied to the Gulf Cartel, that they say came from selling stolen oil.

Source: Associated Press

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/lt_dru ... 46012.html
08-10-2009, 02:17 PM
vmonkey56

Where does this money go?
08-10-2009, 05:18 PM
Dixie

Quote:

The U.S. government plans to hand over $2.4 million to Mexico on Tuesday following a joint investigation.

WHAT! Isn't this Mexico's problem?

Why are we paying for the investigation into stolen Mexican government oil?

Dixie
08-10-2009, 05:27 PM
April

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dixie

Quote:

The U.S. government plans to hand over $2.4 million to Mexico on Tuesday following a joint investigation.

WHAT! Isn't this Mexico's problem?

Why are we paying for the investigation into stolen Mexican government oil?

Dixie

It is maddening here in the twilight zone, is'nt it? :x :x :evil:
08-10-2009, 05:28 PM
Dixie

AP NewsBreak: Mexican cartels smuggle oil to US
By MARTHA MENDOZA (AP) – 2 hours ago

MEXICO CITY — U.S. refineries bought millions of dollars worth of oil siphoned from Mexican government pipelines and smuggled across the border — in some cases by drug cartels expanding their reach.

At least one U.S. oil executive has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy that involved what prosecutors said was about $2 million in stolen Mexican oil, U.S. Justice Department officials confirmed to The Associated Press.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Homeland Security department is scheduled to hand over $2.4 million to Mexico's tax administration, the first batch of money seized during a joint investigation into smuggled oil that authorities expect to lead to more arrests and seizures.

"The United States is working with the Mexican government on the theft of oil," said Nancy Herrera, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Houston. "It's an ongoing investigation, with one indictment so far."

In that case, Donald Schroeder, president of Houston-based Trammo Petroleum, is scheduled to be sentenced in December after pleading guilty in May. Trammo's small firm profited about $150,000 in the scheme, in which various U.S. companies hauled stolen Mexican petroleum products across the border in trucks and barges, according to court records.

Schroeder's attorneys said in an e-mail that neither they nor their client would respond to AP's requests for comment.

In Mexico, federal police commissioner Rodrigo Esparza said the Zetas, a fierce drug gang aligned with the Gulf cartel, used false import documents to smuggle tanker loads of oil to unnamed U.S. refineries.

Earlier this year, the Mexican government froze 149 bank accounts after tracking more than $46 million in transfers related to the Zeta theft. The losses continue at a record rate, according to Mexico's state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.

In a surprising public acknowledgment, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said last week that drug cartels have extended their operations into the theft of oil, Mexico's leading source of foreign income which finances about 40 percent of the national budget.

"These are Mexican resources, and we do not have to sit back or turn a blind eye," Calderon said. "This is our national heritage and we must defend it."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD9A06TGG3
08-10-2009, 05:30 PM
Dixie

Newsmax just didn't do a very good job of explaining that it was marked money used in the investigation.

Dixie
08-10-2009, 05:32 PM
vmonkey56

What about 1/2 of 110,000,000 of the Mexicans (50,000,000) that "We the People" have on our USA payrolls and giveaway programs illegally? Another heritage is cheating and stealing from Americans.
08-10-2009, 06:33 PM
Texas2step

Dixie wrote:
"Newsmax just didn't do a very good job of explaining that it was marked money used in the investigation.

Dixie"

If you will check the original posted article, you will see that it is in fact an Associated Press story, as I indicated above the link.

"Source: Associated Press

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/lt_dru ... 46012.html "
08-10-2009, 09:34 PM
Texas2step

"On Tuesday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency will host a news conference with U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Mexican officials in San Antonio to discuss the scheme."

AUGUST 10, 2009, 8:25 P.M. ET
U.S., Mexico Probe Oil Thefts From Pemex
By SUSAN DAKER

HOUSTON -- U.S. and Mexico authorities are investigating the purchase by U.S. companies of millions of dollars worth of petroleum products stolen from Mexican national oil company Pemex.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency will host a news conference with U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Mexican officials in San Antonio to discuss the scheme. The U.S. is returning $2.4 million in funds generated from smuggling to the Mexican government, a spokeswoman for ICE said.

A Houston executive pleaded guilty in connection with investigation after admitting that he and others conspired to buy the stolen products, which were loaded onto a barge in Brownsville, Texas, said Nancy Herrera, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney in Houston. "We're working with the Mexican authorities," Ms. Herrera said.

Donald Schroeder, the president of Trammo Petroleum, is set to be sentenced in December. Mr. Schroeder, court documents say, purchased the product knowing it to be stolen. Mr. Schroeder's attorney could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Herrera declined to identify what U.S. companies bought the stolen products from Mr. Schroeder. Court filings describe the buyers as "larger companies."

The investigation is ongoing, though, Herrera declined to say if more indictments are pending.

In April, Mexican security forces arrested the group that allegedly made $46 million in the past two years smuggling stolen petroleum condensates to the U.S. The organization is linked to the Gulf drug cartel.

Last month, Mexico's Secretariat of Public Administration and other agencies began investigating Pemex employees to determine whether they conspired with the alleged smugglers.

Write to Susan Daker at susan.daker@dowjones.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124994911799021157.html
08-10-2009, 09:40 PM
vmonkey56

Quote:

The U.S. is returning $2.4 million in funds generated from smuggling to the Mexican government, a spokeswoman for ICE said.

Do what? Who is paying this money? Or is this money that the police found?
08-12-2009, 12:58 AM
Jean

U.S. Firms Probed in Mexico Oil Scam
Comments (1)
By SUSAN DAKER, ANA CAMPOY and JOEL MILLMAN

SAN ANTONIO -- The U.S. government is investigating whether several U.S. companies took part in a cross-border scheme to siphon oil products from Mexico's state oil company and smuggle them across the border.

The probe is part of a broader two-year joint U.S.-Mexican investigation into a network of Mexican oil smugglers supported by the Gulf drug cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful and brutal criminal organizations.

.Oil theft has been common on both sides of the border for decades. But the breadth of the smuggling operation, extending from Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state oil company, to U.S. companies, is a troubling sign of the growing reach of cross-border organized crime, as well as the efforts by Mexican drug cartels to diversify their business.

John Morton, the assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Tuesday that his agency was looking into whether U.S. refiners knowingly bought the stolen products. He declined to name any of the refineries or other companies because the investigation is continuing.

"People are going to jail," Mr. Morton said at a news conference Tuesday in San Antonio. "Fines will be paid."

Investigators didn't specify either the quantity or value of the smuggled oil products. But they said the operation involved some U.S. companies that allegedly knew the oil was stolen. They have executed 10 search warrants in Texas. In April, Mexican security forces said they had arrested a group that made $46 million smuggling oil into the U.S. over two years.

Mexican officials said Tuesday the cartel's foray into oil smuggling was a sign that Mexican President Felipe Calderón's nearly two-year military campaign against drug organizations was working.

"The cartels are fighting for pieces of a shrinking pie. When you have no pie left...then you have to look for another illegal business to pay your people," said Ariel Moutsatsos, adviser for international affairs for the attorney general of Mexico.

Industry experts warned of the risks to Mexico from unchecked oil-smuggling.

"You could eventually end up in the same situation that you have in Africa," said Wayne Wilson, managing director with Protiviti, a risk-management consulting firm. In Nigeria, violent gangs tap into oil pipelines and raid oil company facilities to steal hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil each year.

So far, the U.S. side of the investigation has resulted in the prosecution of Houston businessman Donald Schroeder, the former president of oil marketing company Trammo Petroleum. Mr. Schroeder was the middleman in a plot to smuggle $2 million worth of stolen petroleum condensate from Mexico into Brownsville, Texas, and sell it in the U.S., according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim McAlister.

Mr. Schroeder pleaded guilty in federal court in May and will be sentenced in December. Trammo paid $2 million in federal fines. Mr. McAlister declined to say whether Mr. Schroeder is cooperating with the investigation. Neither Mr. Schroeder nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

A spokesman for the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, an industry trade group, said that Trammo's transaction is "not indicative of how domestic refiners operate."

Trammo employees didn't know of any illegal dealings, a company representative said, adding that Mr. Schroeder has been fired and the company is cooperating with authorities. Trammo also agreed to repay $2.4 million in compensation to the Mexican government. An oversized check was given to Mexican officials at Tuesday's news conference hosted by the Department of Homeland Security. In a statement, Pemex thanked U.S. and Mexican authorities that collaborated in the arrest of Mr. Schroeder.

Several high-profile criminal cases in Mexico show how pervasive corruption has become in the country's energy sector.

Two weeks ago, Mexican law-enforcement officials deposed about a dozen security officers at Pemex and questioned personnel reporting to retired Mexican army general Miguel Estrada Martinez about those in his command who had been implicated in illegal sales of Pemex products. The operation was part of a national sweep of Pemex installations, targeting an alleged network of stolen-fuel traffickers operating out of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Authorities said they detected more than 70 companies linked to an industrial park in the city of Poza Rica, that allegedly were using a Mexico City-based distributor to sell stolen gasoline and other products to hundreds of buyers across eastern Mexico.

An even more elaborate network was uncovered in March in the border state of Tamaulipas. The state's leader of the opposition Democratic Revolution Party -- known as the PRD -- was arrested and charged with leading a gang that sold stolen Pemex products in Mexico's black market, as well as bribing Mexican customs officials to export shipments into Texas.

Miguel Angel Almaraz Maldonado was allegedly working under the protection of Los Zetas -- a gang of reputed former Mexican soldiers turned assassins -- and their patrons in the notorious Gulf cartel, which operates in Mexico's most important oil-producing regions, according to authorities.

Mr. Almaraz's gang allegedly was paying Mexican police and soldiers $1,500 per tanker for free passage on Mexican highways to the U.S. border. Officials say when the ring was busted, officers found 15 tanker trucks on Mr. Almaraz's property, including several with Pemex logos. Mr. Almaraz denied any wrongdoing. He remains in federal prison in Mexico awaiting trial and couldn't be reached for comment.

—José de Cordoba in Mexico City contributed to this article.

http://online.wsj.com
08-12-2009, 01:23 AM
Dixie

Quote:

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

Quote:

The U.S. is returning $2.4 million in funds generated from smuggling to the Mexican government, a spokeswoman for ICE said.

Do what? Who is paying this money? Or is this money that the police found?

In the later article, it sounds like money recovered from the investigation so it would be Mexico's property or repayment/compensation from the company.

Quote:

Trammo also agreed to repay $2.4 million in compensation to the Mexican government.

Dixie
08-12-2009, 06:06 AM
vmonkey56

Quote:

The U.S. government is investigating whether several U.S. companies took part in a cross-border scheme to siphon oil products from Mexico's state oil company and smuggle them across the border.

Oh my! Companies stealing from Mexico. What about illegal aliens stealing from The United States Taxpayers?