Tigers, hyenas, camel found in raid on Mexican fuel smugglers

Mexican authorities said Thursday that they had rescued Bengal tigers, mandrills, hyenas and even a camel during raids on a fuel smuggling ring in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, on the US border.

The 135 animals found at five different properties also included lions, buffalo, sulcata tortoises, spider monkeys, jaguars, an American bison and a green macaw.

Thirty-five of the animals, including the green macaw and sulcata tortoise, are classified as endangered species.

Mexican authorities regularly rescue exotic animals from properties owned by wealthy drug traffickers.

On this occasion, however, the military found them during an operation targeting fuel smugglers.

Smuggling gasoline and diesel from the United States into Mexico and reselling it tax-free is a huge money-spinner for organized crime gangs, including drug cartels.

During these latest raids the military seized 68,000 liters (18,000 gallons) of diesel, fuel tanks, pumps, firearms, and tools.

One person was arrested.

Mexican authorities cracked down on fuel smuggling in 2025, when high-ranking navy officers and officials were implicated in the illegal trade.

Some 10 billion liters of black market fuel were seized at that time in Tamaulipas.

The attorney general's office on Thursday formally charged Fernando Farias, a high-ranking officer who was expelled last week from Argentina, with fuel smuggling.

A former governor of Tamaulipas, Ernesto Ruffo, was also recently arrested on charges of fuel theft.