U.S. Senators intro bill to fight fuel theft by Mexican cartels

Lawmakers recently introduced a bill to address the rising risks posed by organized fuel theft conducted by Mexican cartels.

The Stop Fueling Cartel Violence Act was introduced by U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and John Cornyn (R-TX) in May 2026.

If enacted, the bill would compel the U.S. Department of Defense to report to Congress on actions taken to combat the growing problem of fuel theft conducted by Mexican cartels.

Lawmakers cited the U.S. Department of Treasury, which stated that fuel theft is currently the most significant non-drug illicit revenue source for Mexico-based cartels and other illicit actors.

“Transnational Criminal Organizations in Mexico steal fuel by illegally tapping pipelines, seizing trucks, and conducting sophisticated cross-border smuggling schemes. These criminal groups profit by selling the stolen or trafficked fuel at lower prices on the black market to evade taxes and get rich, leading to a major rise in violence in Mexico that then bleeds into the United States. Communities near pipelines are experiencing cartel-connected shootings, extortion, and intimidation. In recent years, the illicit trade has expanded beyond Mexico, with fuel smuggling linked to international money laundering and cross-border criminal operations, making it an economic, energy, and national security issue,” Rosen said in a news release announcing the bill.

Mexico’s state-owned energy company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) estimates that thieves stole approximately 987,000,000 liters of fuel in calendar year 2024, nearly three times the volume stolen in calendar year 2019, lawmakers said.

“Cartels and other criminal groups in Mexico are developing increasingly sophisticated methods to steal or smuggle hydrocarbon products, sell them on the black market, and use the profits to fund the drug and human trafficking that infiltrates our communities and kills innocent Americans every day,” Cornyn said.

On June 30, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against  two Mexican nationals and nine entities tied to a Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion-linked fuel theft scheme.