According to a report from the Institute for Municipal Management, Administration, and Linkage (Igavim), Puebla remains the leader in the theft of liquefied petroleum gas (LP gas) in Mexico, concentrating almost half of the clandestine taps reported nationwide. From January to June 2024, 271 clandestine taps were detected in the pipelines that cross the state of Puebla, which would equate to a discovered tap approximately every 16 hours and 10 minutes.
Puebla surpassed other states in this crime, such as Veracruz with 172 cases, Tlaxcala with 63, the State of Mexico with 37, Oaxaca with 13, Querétaro with 11, as well as Jalisco with 2; and Guanajuato and Hidalgo with one case each, which recorded fewer incidents of LP gas theft during the same period.
Among the municipalities most affected by huachigaseo in the first half of 2024 in Puebla are Tepeaca with 116 clandestine taps, followed by San Matías Tlalancaleca with 33 cases, and Santa Rita Tlahuapan with 29. Other municipalities with a high number of detected illegal activities were Los Reyes de Juárez with 28 taps, Acajete with 18, Amozoc with 17, and San Salvador El Verde with 14.
Despite leading nationally in clandestine taps of LP gas, with 271 recorded cases, Puebla has shown a 42% decrease compared to the same period in 2023, when 469 illegal perforations were reported in the state.
