According to the Associated Press,
Mexico has received $2.4 million that was forfeited by a U.S. oil importer
after the company president admitted knowingly buying and reselling petroleum
products stolen from Mexico''s oil monopoly. Assistant Homeland Security
Secretary John Morton attended an event in San Antonio with Mexico''s tax
administrator, Alfredo Gutierrez Mena, to mark the return of the cash paid by
Houston-based Trammo Petroleum. Both men said the investigation was an example
of the countries working together on cross-border crime. In addition to the
restitution, Trammo agreed to pay a separate $2 million fine to the U.S.
government, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim McAlister, the prosecutor on the
case against Trammo Petroleum President Donald Schroeder. Schroeder pleaded
guilty in May to buying and reselling $2 million worth of condensate, a crude
petroleum product used for blending. According to court documents, in January
Schroeder participated in a call with an unnamed oil company employee about the
problem of importing stolen condensate. Nearly three weeks later, Schroeder
arranged for a barge to be loaded with the stolen product in Brownsville and
shipped for resale, the federal indictment says. In June 2007, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents were told about allegedly stolen petroleum products
entering the U.S. from Mexico, and an investigation began. Only Mexico''s state
oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, can sell and distribute petroleum
products from Mexico, which is heavily dependent on oil sales to fund its
budget. Ten federal search warrants have been served on bank accounts in Texas
as part of the investigation, though authorities declined to say whether more
indictments were pending and were reluctant to talk about details of the case.
Companies like Trammo work as resellers of crude oil that goes to refiners.
McAlister said it can be difficult for investigators to determine who in the
process is aware of a stolen product''s origins. Officials at the event declined
to comment on how widespread oil theft is in Mexico, but Mexican President
Felipe Calderon has said previously that drug cartels have extended their
operations to include stolen oil. Pemex officials are adding security measures
and extra guards to catch the thieves but say the problem is growing.