The corruption network involving officials and former officials of the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco), who extorted gas station owners, also includes individuals working in the Interior Ministry and Pemex, according to advances in the investigation carried out by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
A copy of the investigation, obtained by La Silla Rota, indicates that the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Hydrocarbon Crimes will file charges against at least 20 Profeco officials who extorted around 6,000 gas stations nationwide.
As La Silla Rota previously reported, the FGR is investigating possible acts of corruption involving two former Profeco heads, Ricardo Sheffield and David Aguilar Romero.
The case began after testimony from “Pablo,” a former Profeco employee, who detailed the existence of a network of public servants demanding quotas from some 6,000 gas stations. According to the testimony, this group coordinated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Santa Rosa de Lima, and Guerreros Unidos to enforce the extortion payments.
Gas station owners who refused to pay were publicly shamed during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s daily morning press conferences, where they were accused of corruption.
A network that extends further
The case file FED/FEMDO/FEITATA-CDMX/0000899/2024 has also implicated alleged officials from the Interior Ministry and Pemex, though their names have not yet been disclosed.
In a legally obtained wiretap included in the investigation, Miguel Ángel González, a Profeco liaison in the scheme, was recorded in contact with a public servant from the Interior Ministry, identified only as “Armando.”
In their conversation, the two discuss doing business related to fuel sales, in which a Pemex executive was allegedly involved.
The conversation took place in February 2025, after Sheffield and Aguilar Romero had already left Profeco.
- MAG: Yes, my friend.
- ARM: Hello?
- MAG: Go ahead.
- ARM: How are you, my friend?
- MAG: Good.
- ARM: Listen, I’m now officially working at the federal Interior Ministry, here at the building on Londres 102.
- MAG: Ah, excellent.
- ARM: I’m very active with LP gas, gasoline, all that. I usually spend time on the stairs or the mezzanine. Also, a great friend of mine, a Pemex executive, reached out. We had talked a while ago about having lunch but never set a date. Yesterday she messaged me: “I want to see you next week, invite you to lunch; I have a business proposal for you.”
- MAG: Well, I was suspicious. I thought, “What if they’re trying to set me up and make me the scapegoat?”
- ARM: If you want, I can send some people. I can send you Commander Pacheco, an experienced officer from the State of Mexico and Mexico City. I’m bringing him back onto the payroll. I recently placed him again in the Federal Citizen Security Secretariat; he’s just getting reinstated.
- MAG: Do you think you could send them today?
- ARM: Of course. I can also send other commanders. Just for a coffee, nothing major. Where did you plan to meet them?
- MAG: I’ll send you the location.
Expanding the network
According to investigators, the link with Pemex executives points to a plan to force all gas stations already paying extortion fees to Profeco officials—so they wouldn’t be inspected or denounced publicly—to also sell stolen fuel (huachicol).
Federal agents conducted surveillance of meetings between Miguel Ángel González and alleged Pemex executives, which took place in Mexico City.
The extortion of gas station owners generates around 220 million pesos per month. However, other intercepted phone calls reveal discussions about increasing profits with “cheaper gasoline”.