It was barely dawn, around 6:30 a.m., when a businessman in the hydrocarbon transportation sector received a message from one of his drivers: he had been robbed in the Esperanza-Amozoc area of Puebla . What happened next highlighted the magnitude of the problem faced by those traveling along that corridor.
“The theft of our vehicle was undoubtedly regrettable, but what is worrying is that in the following two hours four more thefts took place in the same area, and the worst part is that no authority ever showed up, even though the situation was reported from the first theft,” the transporter, who asked to keep his identity confidential, told T21 .
The testimony takes on another dimension after Operation “Swarm ,” carried out on September 7, which resulted in the arrest of Isaac “N,” the Morena party mayor of Esperanza, Puebla; as well as Abigail “N,” former director of municipal Public Security, and Manuel “N,” the mayor’s brother, allegedly linked to a criminal structure connected to cargo truck theft, extortion, kidnapping, and other high-impact crimes on the Puebla-Veracruz highway.
For carriers consulted by T21 , the intervention represents a positive sign, but it also brings back to the table a concern that has plagued the sector for years: what happens when networks linked to cargo theft reach or find protection within the very structures of authority .
Federal and state authorities executed 23 search warrants in the municipality as part of the operation.
Hope, under scrutiny
The relevance of the actions for the road transport sector is related to a problem that precedes the arrests.
Luis Enrique Villatoro Martínez, president of the National Association of Vehicle Tracking and Protection Companies (ANERPV) , reported that, between January and July 2026, 133 cases were recorded in Puebla, representing an approximate decrease of 40% compared to the same period in 2025.
Despite that reduction, Esperanza continued to be one of the focal points of attention , along with the metropolitan area of Puebla.
“With the dismantling of these criminal hotspots or this criminal network that was established in this municipality, we believe that the crime rate will decrease in this area,” Villatoro said.
The corridor’s records also illustrate the scale of the problem. During 2026, the Amozoc–Esperanza section registered 184 cargo truck robberies , compared to 632 cases in 2025 and 672 in 2024, according to information from the Puebla Public Security Secretariat .
“We have suffered through that stretch of road for years.”
Edgar Martínez Chavero, of Transportes Hernie and technical secretary of the Bajío region of the National Chamber of Freight Transportation (Canacar) , stressed that the arrests are good news for those who travel through a region that for years has represented a risk
“This is excellent news […] we as transporters have suffered for years and years from cargo theft on that stretch of highway,” he stated.
Martínez Chavero went even further when referring to what, from the perspective of the transporters, was happening around this criminal activity: he spoke of the involvement of authorities and a dynamic in which part of the stolen merchandise ended up among inhabitants of the area , generating benefits that contributed to normalizing the phenomenon.
However, the businessman avoided making the accusations partisan. “Personally, I wouldn’t label the mayor based on his party affiliation ,” he said, maintaining that the important thing is that federal authorities have taken action against the investigated organization.
For Martínez Chavero, it will now be necessary to prevent the blow to this structure from simply causing the displacement of criminal activity.
“Now, different actions will have to be taken to dismantle that area and protect the surroundings,” he said.
He also identified the stretch from Tecamachalco to Amozoc as another high-incidence area and considered that similar actions should be replicated to continue combating cargo theft.
Dismantle the networks from the root
Villatoro agreed that the scope of the strategy must extend beyond arrests. According to the president of ANERPV, it is necessary to combat not only those directly involved in the crimes, but also the networks of collaboration and protection that enable their operation.
The specialist emphasized that coordination between federal and state authorities, intelligence sharing, and public-private collaboration can contribute to attacking these structures.
“It is necessary to dismantle these networks from the root,” he argued.
He considered that the model applied in Puebla should be reproduced in other entities where similar conditions are observed, including Guanajuato, Jalisco and San Luis Potosí .
For its part, the National Association of Private Transportation (ANTP) also issued a statement after the arrests and acknowledged the investigative and intelligence work carried out by the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) , the National Guard (GN), and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) within the framework of Operation “Swarm” .
“We are convinced that joint actions will yield better results,” the organization stated, adding that it will continue working and exchanging best practices for the benefit of the sector and the country.
For truckers, the operation now opens a new test that will unfold far from raids and arrests: on the highway . After years of robberies along the Esperanza-Amozoc corridor, the outcome will be measured by a lower incidence and, especially, by the fact that stories like the five robberies that occurred in just two hours without any police presence will no longer be repeated.
Comment and follow us on LinkedIn: @Karina Quintero / @GrupoT2
