Cartels smuggle $12–21 billion in fuel from Texas to Mexico annually

The Texas Department of Public Safety has estimated that cartels are illegally transporting fuel worth $12–21 billion annually from Texas to Mexico. Last week, its representatives told a state senate committee that fuel smuggling has likely surpassed drugs as the cartels' main source of income. "Illegal fuel transportation is a threat in plain sight," said department head Colonel Freeman Martin. He said the fuel is loaded into tankers and other containers and transported south.