Mexican oil thieves build tunnel, camouflage trucks to steal oil

Mexican oil thieves drill taps into pipelines

mexican oil thieves
Mexican oil thieves are using camouflaged trucks to steal oil from government pipelines.  L.C. Nøttaasen Flickr photo.

MEXICO CITY _  Authorities say Mexican oil thieves built a camouflaged truck to transport fuel stolen from government pipelines. Police found a tunnel built by pipeline thieves in the same state of Guanajuato last week.

The discoveries show the sophistication of thieves who drill taps into state-owned pipelines thousands of times every year to steal gasoline and diesel.

The Guanajuato state government said Monday it found a gravel truck in which a huge fuel tank had been welded into the bed, covered by a hatch and a layer of gravel to avoid detection.

Guanajuato prosecutors said that on April 2 they found a 15-yard (meter) long tunnel built under fuel pipelines.

The tunnel allowed thieves to drill taps undetected and transport fuel by hoses to a lot where trucks collected stolen fuel.

The Canadian Press