FEATURE | US law enforcement raids offices of Houston fuel trader Ikon Midstream

The scheme boils down to a tax dodge: Diesel, gasoline and naphtha are claimed in trade paperwork to be lubricants to avoid the steep import duties that Mexico charges on those imported fuels, Mexican authorities say. The savings can amount to more than half a cargo's value: $7 million in the case of the March 2025 Torm Agnes shipment, according to a Reuters' calculation.

Denmark-based Torm, which manages the vessel, in September 2025 told Reuters that it had stopped doing business with Ikon Midstream in April of that year, "based on what has come to light." The company said at the time that it was not responsible for, nor involved in, completing customs paperwork for the shipments.

Following the publication of Reuters' story last year, Mexico's government said that it had expanded investigations into suspected fuel smuggling by unspecified companies and officials, including at three Mexican ports where Ikon Midstream delivered petroleum products in 2025, according to a government report posted to a Senate website in February.