Thieves in Mexico siphon whole pipelines of fuel

Fuel thieves in Mexico have grown so bold they are drilling illegal taps under warehouses in big cities and siphoning off the entire contents of pipelines.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that at one pipeline carrying petrol, thieves didn’t just skim off part of the flow — they drilled so many taps they took all the fuel in the duct.

“There was no pressure. They siphoned off all the fuel, because the pipeline is a sieve. They have installed devices along the length of the duct to steal the fuel,” he said.

The country has deployed 3200 marines to guard pipelines and refineries, and one marine patrol scared off a gang that actually tried to break into a facility of the stateowned Pemex oil company to milk an illegal tap on a duct there.

Relatively few people are being arrested or jailed for the thefts. Authorities said they have 1700 open case files on the thefts, but would not say how many arrest have been made.

Lopez Obrador said thieves also have drilled into a pipeline in Mexico City, apparently from a warehouse built illegally over a pipeline right of way.

Lopez Obrador last month launched an offensive against the US$3 billion per-year fuel theft industry. Thieves drilled about 12,581 illegal taps in the first 10 months of 2018.

The new Administration has shut down pipelines to detect and deter illegal taps, relying more on delivering fuel by tanker truck. But there aren’t enough trucks, and long lines continued at petrol stations in several states. The Government is acquiring 500 more tankers to carry fuel while pipelines are shut down and officials are arranging with private railroads to transport fuel.