Mexican authorities have uncovered a sophisticated tunnel used for large-scale fuel theft from Pemex pipelines and drug storage in Hidalgo state. The 22-meter-long tunnel, discovered near Tepetitlan, connected to two taps on an underground pipeline between Pemex's Tula and Salamanca refineries. Security forces seized drugs at the site but made no arrests.

Huachicol, as fuel theft is known in Mexico, has evolved from local criminal activity into a violent, multi-billion-dollar business dominated by powerful cartels. Pemex reported discovering 11,774 illegal pipeline taps in 2024 alone, highlighting the scale of the problem. The stolen fuel is typically sold locally at steep discounts through glass bottles and plastic canisters.

Despite government efforts to combat the black-market trade, Pemex acknowledged in a U.S. regulatory filing that these measures "have not produced sustained improvement in recent years." The highly flammable nature of stolen fuels has led to deadly accidents, including a 2019 explosion that killed at least 137 people. The discovery of this tunnel represents a rare victory in Mexico's ongoing battle against organized crime's control of the fuel theft industry.