Gustavo Castillo
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, January 11, 2026, p. 8
The Secretariat of the Mexican Navy (Semar) and Customs reinforced actions to prevent the smuggling of tobacco and other illegal products through the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), upon discovering that courier and logistics companies based in Mexico participate in an illegal trade network that operates through the falsification of documents and the undervaluation of products.
According to information from the security cabinet, the contraband was declared as “general merchandise” or “shopping bags”, air waybills with false data were used and international shipping was coordinated through courier and logistics companies, using legitimate infrastructure to give it a legal appearance, since in order to go unnoticed, the illicit cargo was mixed with legitimate shipments on a regular commercial flight.
The reinforcement of actions to prevent this smuggling was ordered after shipments from Narita, Japan, were discovered in recent days at the AICM, which consisted, as reported yesterday, of almost 20 tons of tobacco equivalent to 954,380 packs, with an estimated commercial value of 70,741,510 pesos. Recent investigations have detected that the cargo was received in Mexico by importing companies, which managed customs clearance and facilitated the entry of the merchandise.
It was discovered that two of the companies used “would have carried out at least 4,171 import operations in recent years, which shows a wide margin for the entry of irregular merchandise.”
Officials consulted indicated that the Mexican authorities have detected a third company that is in charge of international logistics and, therefore, of issuing air waybills and coordinating shipments, and in national territory it operates as a provider of cargo and customs clearance services, so it is considered that there are other routes and clients involved in the smuggling scheme. To complete the prevention scheme, the Mexican authorities have made contact with the government of Japan and bilateral cooperation in combating smuggling will be strengthened.
Likewise, the Navy reported yesterday on the eradication of more than 726 tons of poppy crops in the community of San Rafael, in the municipality of Del Nayar, Nayarit.
