MATAMOROS, July 4 — An investigation by Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) has revealed that the sister of a fuel-theft kingpin recently sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury continues to work as a key official at the Matamoros Customs Office. Analee de Jesús Juraidini Silva is the sister of Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva, whom the Treasury Department sanctioned as one of the most important financial operators of organized crime.
Her brother trafficked millions of liters of stolen fuel in recent years for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG. Since 2019, Analee de Jesús Juraidini has held various key positions in the Matamoros customs office, according to MCCI.
One of those positions: director of procedures and legal affairs. That is the same position held by Carlos Eugenio Benítez Orta until he was arrested in Texas on charges of facilitating the smuggling of illegal fuel across that border. He is currently imprisoned in Mexico at the El Altiplano prison.
Benítez Orta held that post until 2022, after which it went to Juraidini’s sister. The criminal network operated by declaring U.S. fuel as lubricant to evade taxes, benefiting the CJNG.
The operation used the same customs post previously occupied by the now-imprisoned official. Years ago it was an open secret, the MCCI investigation states. Today the evidence shows the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is infiltrated in the customs of Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
The case of Analee de Jesús Juraidini Silva is presented as proof. The bottom line: one family now holds both the sanctioned operator role and the customs post that allegedly enabled the scheme. Oscar Guillermo Juraidini Silva was designated by the U.S. Treasury as a major financial operator for organized crime.
His sister works at the very customs office through which he moved millions of liters of stolen fuel. What comes next is unclear.
The U.S. Treasury has acted against the brother. Whether Mexican authorities will move against the sister who holds the same customs position as the imprisoned Benítez Orta remains an open question.
Sources
- From Fuel Theft to Customs: Family Link Revealed to Operator …
- From Fuel Theft to Customs: Family Link Revealed to Operator …
