Huachicolero

The word derives from huachicol – originally, according to the Mexican Academy of the Language, an alcoholic beverage adulterated with low-grade alcohol made from sugarcane – plus the suffix -ero, indicating a profession, occupation or device.{{Cite web |publisher=Diccionario de la lengua española, Real Academia Española |url=https://dle.rae.es/-ero |title=-ero |language=es |access-date=2021-12-19 }} El Colegio de México's {{ill|Diccionario del español de México|es}} offers two definitions for huachicol or guachicol: a tool comprising a pole with a basket on one end, used to pick fruit from trees, or the person who uses such a tool; and "a criminal who steals fuel by tapping the pipelines that carry it."{{Cite web |publisher=Diccionario del español de México |url=http://dem.colmex.mx/moduls/Buscador.aspx |title=Huachicolero |language=es |access-date=2019-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123143230/http://dem.colmex.mx/moduls/Buscador.aspx |archive-date=2019-01-23 |url-status=dead }}

According to the Academy's Diccionario de Mexicanismos,{{cite web |title=Diccionario de mexicanismos |url=https://www.academia.org.mx/obras/obras-de-consulta-en-linea/diccionario-de-mexicanismos |publisher=Academia Mexicana de la Lengua |access-date=19 January 2019}} the term also derives from the word guacho, from the Mayan word waach, which means "thief" in some parts of Mexico.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/01/15/685555098/mexicos-president-fights-gas-crisis-while-mexicans-endure-long-lines-with-jokes|title=Mexico's President Fights Gas Crisis, While Mexicans Endure Long Lines With Jokes|date=15 January 2019|work=NPR}}

Fuel theft from pipelines owned by Pemex, the state oil company, has been a long-term problem in Mexico.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/fuel-theft-increased-by-526-mexico|title=Fuel theft increased by 52.6% in Mexico|date=5 July 2018|website=El Universal|access-date=19 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/709148/number-fuel-theft-detect-mexico/|title=Number of fossil fuel thefts in Mexico by state 2016 {{!}} Statistic|website=Statista|language=en|access-date=19 January 2019}} The problem worsened in the 2010s, as organized crime groups in Mexico began including oil theft as part of their main streams of revenue. With the international soaring of fuel prices, this criminal activity became a lucrative business for thieves. Oil theft crime groups used bribery and violence to corrupt government officials. Investigators suspect that several officials within Pemex are involved in facilitating the operations of these criminal groups.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mexico-pipeline-fire-20190118-story.html|title=Mexico pipeline fire kills at least 21, many while gathering illegally tapped fuel|date=19 January 2019|work=Los Angeles Times}} Complicity includes activities such as employees sharing the exact time when the fuel will flow through the pipelines, the maps of the pipelines, and how to successfully perforate them.{{Cite web|url=https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/mexico-oil-shortages-theft/|title=Oil Thieves Convenient Scapegoats for Mexico's Gasoline Shortages|last=Asmann|first=Parker|date=14 January 2019|publisher=InSight Crime}}

Illegally extracting or possessing oil from pipelines, vehicles, equipment, or installations is a federal crime in Mexico and is punishable with up to 20 years in prison.{{Cite news|url=http://www.milenio.com/politica/gobernador-hidalgo-confirma-66-muertos-76-heridos-explosion|title=Explosión en Tlahuelilpan, 73 muertos y 74 heridos: Minuto a minuto|date=19 January 2019|work=Milenio|language=es}} The fuel they steal is generally sold on the black market at a discounted price.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-fuel-shortage-20190109-story.html|title=Mexican president tells motorists not to panic over gasoline shortage|last1=Sanchez|first1=Cecilia|date=4 January 2019|work=Los Angeles Times|last2=McDonnell|first2=Patrick J.}} These groups have gained support from impoverished communities because they provide low-cost fuel and give some locals a venue for employment as fuel carriers and lookouts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/world/americas/hidalgo-explosion-mexico-pipeline.html|title=Death Toll in Mexico Blast Rises to 66; Leader Vows to Intensify Crackdown on Fuel Theft|last1=Villegas|first1=Paulina|date=19 January 2019|work=The New York Times|last2=Semple|first2=Kirk}} Their supply of illegal fuel is believed to sustain entire communities in some parts of the states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-fuel-20190112-story.html|title=Gas shortages: A self-inflicted crisis by Mexico's new president?|last=McDonnell|first=Patrick J.|date=12 January 2019|work=Los Angeles Times}}

By mid-2018, the rate of pipeline perforations had risen considerably to slightly over 40 perforations per day, compared to 28 perforations per day in 2017. In the first 10 months of 2018, 12,581 illegal perforations were reported across pipelines in Mexico.{{Cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/killed-leaking-oil-pipeline-explodes-central-mexico-190119055652876.html|title=Dozens killed as oil pipeline explodes in Mexico's Tlahuelilpan|date=19 January 2019|work=Al Jazeera}} As a result of the increase of fuel theft, the federal government has spent approximately US$3 billion per year on pipeline repairs and maintenance, as well as compensation to oil consumers for whom the oil was intended.{{cite news |title=Mexico pipeline blast kills 66 and injures dozens more |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46929950 |access-date=19 January 2019 |publisher=BBC News |date=19 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mexico-pipeline-explosion-1.4985243|title=At least 20 killed in Mexico pipeline explosion {{!}} CBC News|last1=18 Jan|first1=Thomson Reuters|last2=January 19|first2=2019 11:19 PM ET|website=CBC|language=en|access-date=19 January 2019}}

Given the volatile nature of motor fuel, accidents are common: in December 2010, an explosion in San Martín Texmelucan de Labastida, Puebla, killed 29 people,{{cite news|last=Gould|first=Jens Erik|title=Mexico Pipeline Blast Kills 28, Blamed on 'Criminal Gang' Stealing Fuel|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-20/pemex-pipeline-blast-blamed-on-gang-kills-27-in-rivers-of-fire-.html|access-date=22 December 2010|newspaper=Carlos Manuel Rodriguez|date=20 December 2010}} and at least 137 were killed in the Tlahuelilpan pipeline explosion in Hidalgo on 18 January 2019.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/19/mexico-explosion-deaths-burst-pipeline-gasoline|title=Mexico explosion: scores dead after burst pipeline ignites|date=19 January 2019|work=The Guardian}}

When President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in December 2018, he launched a campaign against oil theft gangs, and dispatched close to 5,000 troops from the Armed Forces and the Federal Police to guard pipelines across Mexico.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/01/19/686841472/more-than-60-dead-dozens-injured-in-mexican-pipeline-explosion|title=More Than 60 Dead, Dozens Injured In Mexican Pipeline Explosion|date=19 January 2019|work=NPR}} Part of his strategy was to divert the flow of fuel from pipelines, detect leaks when they occurred, and transport the fuel by trucks.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/19/least-20-killed-pipeline-explosion-central-mexico/|title=At least 20 killed in pipeline explosion in central Mexico|date=18 January 2019|work=The Telegraph}} Most of the thieves operate in remote areas, and drill at the pipelines during the night to avoid detection. These measures were intended to stop the thieves from illegally tapping fuel pipes. When implemented, however, the measures led to logistical problems, resulting in fuel shortages and long lines at filling stations nationwide, in January 2019. The Federal Police component would be later be replaced by the National Guard in the late spring when that service was officially created by an act of Congress.

• Pemex
• Petroleum industry in Mexico

{{reflist}}

Category:Crime in Mexico

Category:Theft