MEXICO CITY: Mexico on Thursday arrested a former state governor identified as one of the leaders of a billion-dollar smuggling ring, authorities said.
Trafficking of stolen fuel is one of the most lucrative criminal activities in Mexico, alongside the drug trade.
Ernesto Ruffo, a former governor of the border state of Baja California, was arrested following “a highly complex investigation related to large-scale fuel smuggling operations,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
It is “the largest fuel smuggling network detected to date,” Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said in a video statement.
The smuggling operations were carried out by a port services company founded by Ruffo, Godoy said.
