Utah family arrested after allegedly smuggling US $300M in oil from Mexico

A Utah mates and their 2 sons are facing national charges successful the United States for allegedly smuggling US $300 cardinal worthy of crude lipid from Mexico successful collaboration with Mexican transgression organizations, authorities said.

James Jensen, 56, and his wife, Kelly, 54, were arrested past week astatine their 26,893-square-foot modern mansion successful Sandy, Utah, valued astatine US $9.1 million. U.S. Marshals utilized a battering ram to participate the spot during a multi-state operation, tribunal records show. Their sons, Maxwell, 29, and Zachary, 27, were besides indicted.

The household allegedly orchestrated 2,881 amerciable shipments of lipid since May 2022 done their Texas-based company, Arroyo Terminals, disguising cargo arsenic “waste lube” oregon “petroleum distillates” utilizing falsified customs documents.

Payments were directed to Mexican businesses tied to cartels, according to a U.S. District Court warrant. Over US $47 cardinal was transferred to these entities, prosecutors said.

Federal agents simultaneously raided Arroyo Terminals’ Rio Hondo installation adjacent the Mexican border. The tribunal ordered the forfeiture of US $300 cardinal successful assets, including the company, slope accounts, vehicles, their luxury residence successful Sandy and a secondary location successful Draper, Utah.

Reports of the arrests didn’t straight notation the Mexican Navy precocious seizing 10 cardinal liters of stolen diesel fuel (allegedly labeled arsenic lubricating lipid additives) successful the bluish coastal authorities of Tamaulipas, and uncovering 7.9 cardinal liters of stolen hydrocarbons (the superior chemicals successful crude oil, earthy gas, gasoline, diesel and different fossil fuels) connected a spot successful Baja California

James and Kelly Jensen were arrested connected April 23 and released nether GPS monitoring, and person had to surrender their passports. Their sons were detained successful Texas pending arraignment, according to caller coverage.

Neither the Jensens nor attorneys representing them person been quoted successful the media regarding the case.

The allegations led to this header successful the Berlin-based concern quality outlet BNE IntelliNews: “Cross-border lipid smuggling reveals acheronian underbelly of US-Mexico commercialized nexus.”

The nonfiction highlighted however Mexico loses an estimated US $24 cardinal regular to substance smuggling and huachicol (a wide word for substance theft), totaling astir US $10 cardinal annually, according to manufacture expert PetroIntelligence.

The paper El Financiero wrote that Mexico’s state-run lipid and state company, Pemex, reported seizing 18 cardinal liters of illicit fuel/hydrocarbons this outpouring — but lone to enactment that the magnitude was conscionable 7.2% of the measurement tied to the Jensen operation.

“These thefts can’t hap without organization complicity,” Francisco Barnés de Castro, erstwhile caput of Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission, said successful IntelliNews. He was referring chiefly to poorly supervised offshore lipid platforms.

The arrests followed Mexico’s caller suspension of U.S. refiner Valero’s import permits during a smuggling crackdown, which disrupted supplies and boosted Pemex’s marketplace share.

Authorities person not disclosed further suspects but stress the probe remains active. Initial tribunal hearings are scheduled for May 8 successful Brownsville, Texas, according to reports.

With reports from El Financiero, El Economista, KSLTV.com and KRGV.com