A presumed fuel smuggling network, known as huachicol fiscal, operated within the Secretariat of the Navy involving at least 34 marines, according to a Federal Attorney General's Office investigation. The case emerged from an audio where Rear Admiral Fernando Guerrero Alcántar denounced the network to former Secretary Rafael Ojeda Durán, implicating his political nephews. The Attorney General's Office keeps the penal case open, despite the Navy finding no irregularities.
The fuel smuggling investigation in the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) emerged after the release of an audio obtained by Aristegui Noticias, in which Rear Admiral Fernando Guerrero Alcántar, murdered in November 2024, denounces a criminal network to former Secretary Rafael Ojeda Durán, linked to his political nephews, Manuel Roberto Farías Laguna and Fernando Farías Laguna. Ojeda asked him to file the complaint in writing. Although the Navy stated it found no irregularities in its inquiries, the Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) keeps a penal case open based on Guerrero's accusations.
In 2023, Ojeda told then-Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero about possible corruption acts in the institution, but the probes found no evidence of fuel smuggling. Internal Navy documents reveal the network solidified with the appointment of José Luis Arellano Ruiz as undersecretary, promoted by Manuel Roberto Farías Laguna and his aunt Sandra Luz Laguna, Ojeda's wife. Arellano Ruiz built ties with politicians and entrepreneurs, including approaches to then-candidate Claudia Sheinbaum to offer campaign financing in exchange for keeping Ojeda in office.
The network involved 34 officers in key customs like Altamira, Dos Bocas, Ensenada, Guaymas, Lázaro Cárdenas, Manzanillo, Veracruz, and Mexico City's International Airport Benito Juárez. Main operators include Lieutenant Commander Miguel Solano, who collected resources from customs and distributed them; Captain Clímaco Aldape Utrera, who handled legal and illegal procedures; and Lieutenant Octavio Sánchez Alatorre, who facilitated drug trafficking with cartels, particularly the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in ports across several states.
Other implicated figures are Vice Admiral Miguel Rivas Hernández, who mobilized units to protect criminal groups; Joaquín Cruz Ballado, brother of Admiral Jorge Luis Cruz Ballado; Admiral Raúl Pérez Vázquez; Vice Admiral Benito Armando Galeana Abarca; Rear Admiral Martín Francisco Mouton, director of Naval Constructions; and Rear Admiral Ibrahim Manuel Maja Castro, in the General Staff. In the Naval Intelligence Unit, Rear Admirals Gabriel Guzmán Comparán and César Mora Arenas conducted investigations without superior authorization.
Commanders received monthly compensations: Rear Admiral Marco Antonio Bandala in Manzanillo got eight million pesos for facilitating goods; and Rear Admiral Ricardo Gutiérrez Ruvalcaba in Mexico City's customs, five million. Total collections exceeded 50 million pesos weekly. Manuel Roberto Farías Laguna is imprisoned, while his brother Fernando remains a fugitive.
