Recent court filings in Mexico have drawn fresh scrutiny to two sons of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, over their alleged connections to a sprawling fuel theft and smuggling operation linked to powerful cartels.
Documents obtained by the news outlet Latinus reveal that Andrés Manuel “Andy” López Beltrán and Gonzalo “Bobby” López Beltrán secured federal injunctions to shield themselves from potential arrest warrants. These legal maneuvers, often called “amparos,” were granted by judges in Mexico City and Zacatecas, extending protection not just to the brothers but to 14 others implicated in the scheme.
The injunctions block immediate detention, forced disappearance, torture, or incommunicado holding, and they compel authorities to disclose any existing arrest orders. Court records show the filings targeted the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime within Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office. Yet the lawyer named in the documents, Juan Francisco Rodríguez Smith Macdonald, has publicly disavowed any involvement.
“I did not file the proceedings,” he told El Universal, insisting that someone had usurped his identity. This denial adds a layer of intrigue, raising questions about who might be orchestrating these protections and why.
The brothers’ involvement reportedly stems from their use of political influence to facilitate a network smuggling cartel-stolen fuel through Mexican ports under Navy control. Reports suggest they leveraged their positions during their father’s administration to enable large-scale shipments via tankers, bypassing customs and evading taxes. This operation falls under the banner of “huachicol fiscal,” a term for sophisticated fuel fraud that has drained billions from Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Pemex. Over the past five years alone, such thefts have cost Pemex $3.8 billion, with stolen or smuggled fuel often resold domestically or across the border.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, AMLO’s successor and a close ally, swiftly rejected the allegations during a September 18 press briefing.