We need the support of the people to end fuel theft, says Obrador
Staff Writer |
Without the support of the people, it is impossible to win the fight against the theft of gasoline, which is why I congratulate you, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said when taking stock of the battle against "huachicaleo".
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'Huachicoleo' was an alcoholic drink adulterated by unscrupulous merchants to take huge profits and by extension is applied to traffickers of stolen gasoline.
The term has become widespread and has become so popular that it is used to qualify any illicit actions, especially in the field of corruption in official areas.
In his morning conference, Lopez Obrador reaffirmed that the battle against the 'huachicoleo' will continue until the end and will continue to be strengthened, especially due to the great support received by the public and the patience of the motorists who resist the inconvenience due to the change in fuel distribution methods.
He explained that the central axes against the 'huachicoleo' are: intensification of the surveillance of pipelines and other related dependencies, increase in the volume of distribution by all possible means, and purchase of 500 tank trucks with a capacity of 60,000 liters, or acquisition of 1,000 units of 30,000 liters.
In addition, reinforcement of social programs in all the municipalities surrounding the 11 gas pipelines in the country to remove the illicit actions related to the 'huachicoleo' to the populations that due to economic needs let themselves be recruited by the thieves to contribute to the creation of leaks in the ducts.
Also applying a thorough judicialization of the investigation processes to dismantle the administrative protection network or not that has supported the theft of gasoline, and more determined intervention of the intelligence unit of the tax system and the Attorney General, now the Prosecutor.
He admitted that no government in the world could carry out a sanitation operation as deep and radical as the one that takes place in Mexico if it does not have the support of the people and could never face this scourge alone, such as excessive and outright theft of fuels of such magnitude.
He revealed that the secretaries involved in the battle evaluate twice a day, at dawn and at night, the advances in each day and the occurrences that are taken to the detail, and the results are encouraging. He gave the example of the Tuxpan pipeline of 311 kilometers, which brings 160,000 liters a day to the metropolitan area.
Thanks to the day and night surveillance implemented, they have not been able to sabotage the aforementioned duct for 72 hours, putting a stop to the numerous daily drillings and a huge leak of gasoline.
He said that it is guaranteed that Mexico is moving towards normality, both because of the effectiveness of the surveillance and because of the collateral measures that are being applied in the social, coercive and administrative areas. ■