Cryptocurrency fuel theft reported in the SME leader's stronghold in Hidalgo

PUEBLA, Pue., (apro).- At the facilities of Generadora Fénix de Juandhó, in the state of Hidalgo, a town that is the stronghold of Martín Esparza, leader of the Mexican Union of Electricians (SME), electrical fuel theft was also being committed for the possible mining of cryptocurrencies, according to images captured by former employees and provided to this media outlet.

The photographs were taken on April 3, a few days after the publication of the 22nd print edition of Proceso, which reported that, in Nuevo Necaxa, Puebla, the CFE (Federal Commission for the Defense of the Economy) dismantled, with the support of federal forces, illegal electricity connections that were serving to supply cryptocurrency farms operating inside buildings owned by the SME.

Former Luz y Fuerza del Centro (LyFC) employees captured the moment a trailer removed three-phase transformers like those being used in Puebla to steal power from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) from a property owned by the SME in Juandhó, Tetepango municipality.

After noticing that other trailers were also removing equipment from that location, the electricians also detected, through photographs, that through the back door of that building there were medium-voltage lines and connections leading to a building inside those facilities managed by Fénix Generator.

They explained that this is an obvious case of "huachicoleo" or electricity theft, since those lines did not pass through a "maximum demand" meter, as required, which would quantify energy consumption at that location in order to pay the CFE for it, as all users must.

Mario Benítez, a former LyFC employee, explained that the former electricians have discovered that not only in Nuevo Necaxa, SME leaders were "huachicoleando" electricity for the "big business" of cryptocurrency mining, but they were also doing so in other union facilities they have in other entities.

He said they haven't been able to take photos or videos everywhere because in most places, union leaders have deployed security personnel to prevent them from approaching, but that it is urgent that the 4T government take action to investigate and punish those involved in this crime.

Bastion of Martín Esparza

It's worth remembering that Martín Esparza is originally from Juandhó and that before becoming the national leader of the SME, he was general secretary of that division's union branch in the state of Hidalgo. Therefore, that town is considered his stronghold, where he has a ranch and businesses run by his children and other relatives.

Fénix Generator is the company that the SME leadership formed in partnership with the Portuguese multinational Mota Engil in September 2015 to operate 14 power plants and four power plants that were handed over to it by the Enrique Peña Nieto government as an agreement to drop labor lawsuits.

According to the articles of incorporation of Generadora Fénix, 51 percent of the shares belong to Mota Engil—where José Miguel Bejos, close to the Atlacomulco group, is the Mexican partner—40 percent of the shares belong to the SME, and 9 percent to Cooperativa Luz y Fuerza.

Benítez mentioned that since this electricity theft is taking place in facilities managed by Fénix Generator, Mota Engil could also be implicated in the crime.

"Mota Engil, Bejos, and Joao Parreira (the company's president in Latin America) should be summoned, because they need to know what their partner, Martín Esparza, is doing at the Fénix facilities. Either they will disassociate themselves from this crime or they will be complicit in it," he said.

It's worth noting that last week, former LyFC employees released a video capturing the sounds emitted by what appears to be a cryptocurrency farm operating at SME facilities in El Oro, State of Mexico.