Former Pemex director arrested in the US on corruption charges

Carlos Treviño, former director of the Mexican state oil company Pemex (2017-2018), was arrested in the United States on August 13. Treviño served as director of the state oil giant during the right-wing government of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018). Pemex is the largest company in Mexico, so millions and millions of dollars pass through its accounts, making it the center of several corruption scandals over the years.

Treviño’s arrest took place in Dallas, Texas, and Mexican authorities announced that he will soon be deported to Mexico for corruption crimes linked to the international Odebrecht case.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Treviño’s arrest on August 14, during her regular media appearance: “Yesterday, a former director of Pemex who was on the wanted list was arrested, which is good news. He will be deported and tried here in Mexico for corruption.”

Since 2021, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Mexico (FGR) has requested that Interpol issue a red alert to locate and apprehend the former Pemex executive after a Mexican judge issued an arrest warrant against him.

Mexican authorities suspected that Treviño was not in Mexican territory after he failed to appear at a hearing for criminal association and operation of illicit funds.

The FGR alleges that Treviño received bribes totaling more than 4 million pesos (approximately USD 212,000) in exchange for authorizing a contract for the installation of a plant belonging to Braskem, a subsidiary of Brazilian giant Odebrecht.

For almost a decade, Odebrecht bribed senior executives and former leaders throughout Latin America to win tenders that would allow it to increase its capital. Dozens of cases were opened up into leaders from across the region on Odebrecht-related corruption cases.

The investigations against Treviño began when another former Pemex director, Emilio Lozoya (who was also accused of corruption), accused Treviño of receiving more than USD 200,000 from Odebrecht.

Lozoya was extradited from Spain in 2020. The former director reached an agreement with the Mexican justice system to be put in house arrest in exchange for confessing to which other officials had committed acts of corruption.

A victory for Sheinbaum

In August of this year, Sheinbaum launched her plan to rescue Pemex, which includes funding from government-backed bonds sold to investors. Treviño’s arrest can be seen as a victory for Sheinbaum’s administration, which seeks to eradicate corruption at Pemex while rescuing the giant from its substantial and daunting debts, which amount to approximately USD 100 billion.

Meanwhile, Treviño’s lawyer, Óscar Zamudio, said in a statement that his client was detained due to a “confusion strictly related to immigration” and that he was never hiding from US authorities. “It is concerning that there are transactional relationships between countries outside the framework of the extradition treaty, because it is one thing to send members of organized crime and another for Mexico to request the transfer of citizens who are presumed innocent,” Zamudio said.

In response, the FGR clarified on X: “Carlos Alberto ‘T’, former Director of PEMEX, has an outstanding and enforceable arrest warrant for crimes of criminal association and operations with funds of illicit origin. This individual was arrested on August 12 in Dallas, Texas, by the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He is currently in the process of being deported under the custody of ICE-ERO (Enforcement Removal Operations).”