Culiacán: two dead and three detained in federal operation

The network of corruption in Mexican customs now affects the Ministry of National Defense. The newspaper Reforma revealed that the Attorney General’s Office is seeking to arrest three members of the Army for their alleged participation in the sale of 144 million liters of fuel at the customs in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

The soldiers are on the run. They are part of a list of 13 people – including soldiers, sailors and businessmen – with arrest warrants. Seven have already been arrested.

The designated

The accused with military rank are Lieutenant Colonel Armando Barrera Trujillo and Blas Pedro Sarabia García, who were heads of customs between 2024 and 2026, and military police lieutenant Jorge García García, former deputy director of customs operations. Barrera and Sarabia have filed injunctions against the blocking of their bank accounts.

The plot was headed by Armando III Riestra Fernández, owner of Servicios Aduanales JR, imprisoned since January 2026 in the Altiplano prison. His company processed permits to import 144 million liters of fuel hidden as a calcium chloride solution. The importers were Jumandi Group and Ferroservicios.

“This criminal organization maintains a network of corruption that includes personnel from the military forces, such as the former head of the Matamoros customs, Armando Barrera Trujillo, Lieutenant Colonel of Sedena… and the current head, Blas Pedro Sarabia García,” Reforma cites in the arrest warrant.

The background of the case

Part of the fuel was smuggled after the Challenge Procyon ship was seized at Tampico customs. The ship declared additives, but was transporting hydrocarbons. That discovery uncovered a broader network: from June 2023 to March 2025, at least 69 illegal operations were coordinated in Mexican ports, with 564 million liters of illicit fuel.

Control of customs passed into military hands in mid-2020. Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador justified the measure based on military honesty and efficiency. Successive corruption scandals have called that premise into question.

Two lieutenant colonels of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) are fugitives from justice after being accused of their participation in fuel smuggling at the customs office in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Both presented appeals against the blocking of their bank accounts ordered by the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Treasury. None of the trials have a final ruling: one is being processed in Mexico City and the other in Tamaulipas.

Legal actions and account blocking

According to an investigation by Reforma, these two soldiers are part of a corruption network that, along with 10 other officials and businessmen, introduced 144 million liters of hydrocarbons between June 1 and July 22, 2025. The head of the organization would be Armando III Riestra Fernández, operator of a customs services company who is already imprisoned in the Altiplano prison.

Lieutenant Colonel Armando Barrera Trujillo, former head of the Matamoros customs, filed his protection in February against the order to secure six bank accounts in Banorte, Banjercito, BBVA and Banamex. Although he was denied a definitive suspension in March, he managed to have a Banjercito account released, but only his pension funds. Its strategy has included complaints, reviews and jurisdictional conflicts between courts.

Lieutenant Colonel Blas Pedro Sarabia García, who took office on July 15, 2025, presented his protection from Tamaulipas. He complained about the blocking of his accounts at BBVA and Santander, as well as his inclusion on lists of blocked people without notification. In his case, a judge granted him the suspension to use his salary as an employee of the National Customs Agency of Mexico.

Control of customs passed into military hands in mid-2020. The Navy manages the ports and the Army manages the land borders. Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador justified the measure in military honesty and efficiency. This case is the second fuel smuggling scandal involving the Mexican military, after the network discovered in the Navy.

Alert for outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the United States

The Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of Health and the National Epidemiological Surveillance System, issued an alert due to the increase in cases of cyclosporiasis in the United States. It is an intestinal infection caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, which is acquired by consuming contaminated food or water.

Since May, there has been a significant increase in infections. So far, 1,645 cases have been confirmed in 34 states of the neighboring country. The outbreak particularly affects Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, where there are more than 400 infections.

The authorities indicated that the food responsible for the contagion has not yet been identified. The infection may be asymptomatic or cause symptoms such as diarrhea, loss of appetite, abdominal cramps, gas, nausea, and fatigue. In some cases vomiting, fever and respiratory symptoms also occur.

Symptoms appear between two days and more than two weeks after exposure. The parasite can remain in the environment for one or two weeks. So far, no cases of this infection have been reported in Mexican territory.

The authorities’ recommendation is to take extreme hygiene measures when handling food and washing fruits and vegetables, especially if traveling to areas with active outbreaks.