PFA arrests former Mexican rear admiral in Argentina over fuel smuggling ring
Argentina's Federal Police arrested a former rear admiral of the Mexican Navy in Palermo, Buenos Aires, linked to a hydrocarbon smuggling network. The suspect had entered the country using false Guatemalan identification.
Former Mexican rear admiral detained in Buenos Aires for hydrocarbon smuggling
Argentina's Federal Police (PFA) detained a former rear admiral of the Mexican Navy at the intersection of Guatemala and Juan B. Justo streets, in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, according to a report from argentina.gob.ar. The subject, identified as Farías Laguna, had entered the country on 1 April 2026 under a false identity in the name of a Guatemalan citizen and was staying in a temporary rental apartment in the area.
Farías Laguna is wanted by the Specialised District Court in the Accusatory Penal System of the State of Mexico, headed by judge Nancy Selene Hidalgo Pérez, in the framework of a case involving organised crime focused on hydrocarbon offences.
According to the investigation, since 2023 he had been part of a criminal structure made up of public officials, private companies and armed forces personnel, dedicated to the illegal entry of fuel from the United States into Mexico through commercial simulation schemes. The hydrocarbon was declared in customs documentation as "oils, lubricants or additives" to evade tax controls.
This method, known as "fiscal fuel smuggling", combines smuggling, tax evasion and the use of business structures to conceal the crime. Unlike traditional fuel theft, the scheme is based on manipulation of import records to introduce petrol and diesel as tax-exempt products, generating illegal gains in the millions and distorting the energy market. Losses to the Mexican state are estimated in the billions of pesos.
The detention took place within the framework of international cooperation on security matters and coordinated work with Interpol for the location of fugitives linked to complex crimes. In Argentina, the National Criminal and Correctional Federal Court No. 12, headed by judge Julián Ercolini, Court Office No. 24 of María Alejandra Cavallero, is involved within the corresponding extradition proceedings.
Source: Google News AR — Crime