Mexican drug cartels are stealing billions of dollars worth of oil. Yahoo/AP

A truck shot up by the cartels. Yahoo/AP.

Mexican drug cartels are stealing billions of dollars worth of oil. Yahoo/AP. Pemex, the state oil company, says that over $1.15 billion worth of oil has been stolen from almost 2500 illegal taps. Most of these taps are in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where fracking has greatly increased output. The theft is a major threat to developing these oil fields since it may scare away foreign investors. Both the Zetas and Gulf Cartel are active in Tamaulipas and both are stealing oil from the State. The cartels have also infiltrated Pemex as well, giving them the technical knowledge to steal more efficiently. Given the massive patrol area and general corruption, efforts to prevent these thefts have been futile to this point. 

My Comment:

Whenever someone says "if we legalize drugs the cartels will be powerless" I can point to this article. The cartels are involved in so many things besides drug smuggling that cutting off that income stream wouldn't kill them. In addition to energy theft, they are involved with kidnapping, arms smuggling, extortion, corruption and even legitimate businesses. Yes, legalizing drugs would hurt their bottom line but it wouldn't end the violence or the cartels stranglehold on Mexico.

And once again this is a huge national security concern that gets ZERO attention from the western media. It's also an economic burden as well since this oil could have been sold legitimately. I'm guessing this raises oil prices for everyone except the people that buy on the black market. Either way though the Mexican Drug War gets way less attention then it deserves.