Mexican officials are making efforts to shield high-ranking political figures in the country’s ruling party from being implicated or charged in a cartel-related fuel theft network operating in the northern regions.

According to Texas reports, funds linked to cartel-run fuel thefts have historically been used to bankroll political campaigns, thus enabling the current ruling party to maintain its hold on power in Mexico.

Recently, authorities conducted a raid in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. During the operation, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) confiscated 1.8 million liters of fuel, nine trucks, 39 trailers, twelve pumps, and assorted industrial equipment at a truck railyard.

The Mexican government released a statement on the operation, with several officials commenting on the action as part of a public relations effort led by Omar Garcia Harfuch, the country’s top security official. The initiative aims to calm U.S. concerns about insufficient efforts to combat drug cartels. The confiscated fuel in Reynosa is suspected to be tied to the Cartel Jalisco New Generation and the Gulf Cartel’s Metros faction, which is active in the area.

Texas reports indicate that Garcia Harfuch has been orchestrating raids, boosting the scale of seizures, and announcing significant enforcement efforts to satisfy U.S. demands. Despite these efforts, cartels continue to operate with substantial freedom across Mexico.

Following the FGR’s announcement, several local journalists and political adversaries of the ruling MORENA party disclosed that the site of the fuel theft raid belonged to a company partially owned by Mexican Senator Jose Ramon “JR” Gomez Leal, a prominent political figure in MORENA.