Maya Train Derailments Linked to Defective Materials

MEXICO — The section of the Maya Train where two accidents occurred, including Tuesday's derailment in Izamal, is the same one in which friends of Andy López Beltrán conducted business with defective ballast; the work was executed by Grupo Indi, a favored contractor of the governments of Claudia Sheinbaum and Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The first derailment was recorded on March 25, when a convoy suffered another incident on the Mérida-Cancún route and stopped near Tixkokob, one station before Izamal, approximately 25 minutes apart. This corresponds to Section 3 of the Palenque-Centenario route.

According to different reports by Latinus, this area corresponds to the section where "The Clan" was involved, a network of influence peddling and business that has earned millions through the mediation of Andy and Gonzalo "Bobby" López Beltrán, sons of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who delivered thousands of cubic meters of ballast for the Maya Train without quality certifications.

In investigations revealed by this outlet, "The Clan" bribed the laboratory responsible for testing the ballast, which is the stone upon which the train's tracks are placed and which Amílcar Olán, a contractor for Morena governments and a close friend of the president's sons, has sold to the Maya Train.

Latinus had access to conversations between Amílcar and Pedro Salazar Beltrán, cousin of Andy and Gonzalo "Bobby" López Beltrán, which reveal how and how much money they delivered to ensure the stone was not subjected to physical and chemical tests.

"When the train (Maya) derails, it's going to be a whole other mess," says Pedro Salazar after mocking the corruption scheme and the quality of the ballast.

The affected zones were executed by Grupo Indi, the favored constructor of the governments of Claudia Sheinbaum and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Information in the possession of Latinus reveals that Grupo Indi has won at least 66 billion pesos in contracts awarded by the administrations that both Morena politicians have headed in recent years.

Journalist Carlos Loret de Mola revealed in 2024 that these contracts for Grupo Indi were awarded thanks to a key figure: Luis Francisco Deyá Oropeza, current Undersecretary of Works and Services in Mexico City, who has jumped between public administration and the construction consortium on four occasions.

In 2020, when Deyá Oropeza was in charge of projects for Grupo Indi, FONATUR awarded the consortium the construction of Section 3 of the Maya Train, which spans 172 kilometers and connects Campeche and Yucatán.

It was precisely on this section that the first accident, the largest since the railway project began operations in December of last year, was recorded. Although Tuesday's derailment did not result in any fatalities, it left several people injured.