Wyden Requests Information From 7 Shipping Companies to Launch New Inquiry Into Fuel Smuggling By Drug Cartels

Wyden Requests Information From 7 Shipping Companies to Launch New Inquiry Into Fuel Smuggling By Drug Cartels

Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today launched a new inquiry into fuel smuggling and money laundering reportedly orchestrated by Mexican drug cartels, by requesting information from 7 shipping companies about their operations and safeguards against illegal fuel trafficking.

"Drug cartels are reportedly siphoning billions of dollars' worth of fuel to bolster their criminal empires, while they also bring drugs and violence into the United States. I want to be sure both shipping companies and the U.S. government are doing everything in their power to shut off this revenue stream. These letters are the first step in my effort to learn more about how these criminal networks operate, and where existing controls are failing," Wyden said.

News reports this year indicate that drug cartels have diverted billions of dollars in diesel and other fuel shipments to avoid Mexican customs and operate an illegal fuel network in Mexico. Those proceeds strengthen drug cartels, which are major manufacturers and smugglers of illegal drugs into the United States, with responsibility for murders and brutal violence on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Meanwhile, Trump has diverted law enforcement officials and resources away from ongoing investigations in order to round up immigrants with little regard for due process or prioritizing truly dangerous criminals.

Wyden requested information from TORM, Teekay, Scorpio Tankers, NORDEN, International Seaways, Frontline and CMB.Tech.

"Cracking down on this illicit industry is critical to blunt cartels' ability to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and other deadly drugs in the United States, and the international shipping industry must play its part to end this lawless practice," Wyden wrote in his letters to the shippers.

Click here to read the letters to TORM, Teekay, Scorpio Tankers, NORDEN, International Seaways, Frontline and CMB.Tech.

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