FGR still reviewing Guanajuato fuel permits
Original reporting: El Diario de Juárez
What happened
Sheinbaum says prosecutors have not determined whether the reported 59 million liters were illegal; the terminal operator maintains it holds the required permits.
Reporting and context
President Claudia Sheinbaum said federal prosecutors are still checking permits for the 59 million liters of fuel reported seized in Guanajuato and have not determined whether it was illegal, according to El Diario de Juárez. She said Attorney General Ernestina Godoy told her the review was continuing and that the FGR would announce its findings.
The report places her comments a day after the announced dismissal of Juan Francisco Vera, the FGR's representative in Guanajuato. Authorities had announced the seizure on September 17, ahead of Sheinbaum's visit, but the newspaper reports that the intervention at the Grupo SIMSA terminal in San José Iturbide occurred on September 4 and normal operations resumed on September 10. The legality of the fuel remained unresolved.
Grupo SIMSA maintains that the terminal stores fuel for other companies rather than owning it, and that it has the required operating permits. Those statements are the company's position as investigators examine the documentation.
According to the report, Godoy assigned the case to the FGR's organized-crime division, FEMDO, after inconsistencies emerged. Prosecutors said they were reviewing documents and interviewing executives to establish the fuel's ownership, operation, financial trail and tax status. Sheinbaum said a conclusion about possible fuel theft must await that investigation.