Mechanisms of an Institutional Corruption Network
The Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) has revealed the intricate mechanisms of a sophisticated network of institutional corruption within the Ministry of the Navy, specifically in the Tampico Customs. According to the investigations consulted, the brothers Vice Admiral Manuel Roberto Farías Laguna and Rear Admiral Fernando Farías operated through a system of intermediaries to facilitate the illegal landing of vessels loaded with fiscal huachicol.
The modus operandi consisted of the payment of million-dollar bribes to subordinates, with a fixed rate of one million seven hundred and fifty thousand pesos for each vessel that was authorized to illicitly unload within the tax precincts controlled by the institution. This operation was not spontaneous, but the result of a deliberate and systematic structure that took advantage of the chain of command and opacity in customs procedures.
The Protected Witness and the Quantification of Fraud
The central figure that has allowed this plot to be unraveled is the former Director of the Tampico Customs, Captain Alejandro Torres Joaquín, who is currently under the protected witness scheme collaborating with the authorities. His testimony, given before the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, provides precise and quantifiable data on the magnitude of the illicit operation.
Torres Joaquín admitted to having personally allowed the disembarkation of fourteen vessels with fuel of illicit origin between April 2024 and January 2025. The bribe payments were made with a delay of three days to one week after the vessels set sail, following a protocol designed to avoid suspicion and immediate tracking.
However, the analysis of his statement reveals a second level of diversion within the criminal network itself. Of each payment of 1.75 million pesos that he received to distribute among his eleven subordinates, Captain Torres confessed that he only distributed 330 thousand pesos among six of them, illegally appropriating one million four hundred and twenty thousand pesos for each operation. This internal embezzlement demonstrates the deep decomposition and greed that characterized the organization.
The total calculation of the illicit benefit obtained solely by Torres amounts to nineteen million seven hundred and eighty thousand pesos, derived from the fourteen vessels, while the total amount distributed among his direct collaborators was four million seven hundred and twenty thousand pesos.
Intermediaries and the Logistics Structure
The judicial investigation identifies Retired Lieutenant Commander Miguel Ángel Solano Ruiz as one of the main liaison links between the high naval commanders involved and the customs officials on the ground. According to testimony, Solano Ruiz, who is a fugitive and has an arrest warrant against him, communicated covertly using the encrypted messaging application Threema, under the alias “NK”.
The use of encryption technology and the avoidance of direct physical contact demonstrate a high degree of sophistication and criminal awareness intended to make tracking by authorities difficult. The witness reported that, although he never met Solano Ruiz personally, this individual played a crucial role in his installation in office, even facilitating the appointment of two deputy directors to consolidate his operational control over customs.
“Asking among acquaintances in the naval environment, they made reference to the fact that it is a retired Lieutenant Commander named Miguel Ángel Solano Ruiz, whom I do not have the pleasure of meeting in person and whose name does not ring a bell. I only know that he is a person who has to do with the customs system in Mexico and who has many contacts in high-level positions in the Government. From then on he does not know anything else about him,”, the witness detailed in his statement.
The investigation has led to the arrest of fourteen people, among whom are Vice Admiral Roberto Farías – nephew-in-law of the former Secretary of the Navy, Rafael Ojeda – and the six subordinates with whom Captain Torres partially shared the bribes. The list of detainees includes Captain Carlos Estudillo Villalobos, Deputy Director of Operations; Captain Sergio Varela, Deputy Director of Surveillance and Control; and Endira Xóchitl Palomo Chávez, former Head of the Department of Tax Precincts.
The list is completed by Perla Elizabeth Castro Sánchez, Head of Department and Operations; as well as Anatalia Jocelyn Gutiérrez Gutiérrez and Ismael Ricaño Matías, both merchandise verifiers. All of them are behind bars, facing charges for their alleged participation in this vast network of corruption and organized crime.
This case not only illustrates a scheme of diversion of resources and illicit enrichment, but also highlights the structural vulnerabilities that can be exploited by criminal organizations to commit tax fraud on a large scale, with the complicity of public officials in charge of national security.
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