Quintana Roo Government Awarded 150 Million Pesos to Firms Tied to Fuel-Theft Ring

Mexico City — The government of Quintana Roo, led by Gov. Mara Lezama, and municipal administrations in the state awarded more than 150 million pesos in contracts between 2023 and 2024 to five companies linked by shareholders, legal representatives, and addresses to Tabasco Capital, a shell company connected to the fuel-theft network of Raúl Rocha Cantú, co-owner of Miss Universe.

The contracts covered street lighting, signage, parks, sports courts, schools, and urban works, according to an investigation by the advocacy group Mexicanos contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (MCCI).

Company Ties

MCCI found the connections in commercial records and official documents. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FGR) said Tabasco Capital shared addresses, partners, administrators, or legal representatives with Construindustrial y de Servicios SIMMA, Construservicios ESL, AF Instalaciones, and other companies that obtained public contracts in Quintana Roo.

During a raid on Feb. 22, 2025, in Querétaro, federal agents seized documentation from Tabasco Capital. The FGR identified the company as one used to invoice hydrocarbons obtained illegally. The investigation also documented transfers from Tabasco Capital to Jacobo Reyes León, alias “El Yeicob,” an operator of the fuel-theft network linked to Rocha Cantú.

The FGR said Rocha Cantú provided capital to bring fuel from Guatemala and the United States, while Daniel Roldán Morales, known as “Dani,” allegedly controlled the front companies used to make the fuel sales appear legal.

SIMMA signed a tender in November 2023 with the Quintana Roo Public Works Secretariat, listing its address as San Martín de Porres 111 in Querétaro — the same address as Tabasco Capital. The secretariat is now headed by José “Pepe” Lara Díaz, who calls himself “The Architect of Transformation in QR.” Lara led the state’s educational infrastructure institute when Lezama took office.

Daniel de la Flor López, currently the majority shareholder and sole administrator of Tabasco Capital, shares that address with SIMMA. SIMMA’s former manager, Adrián León Ayala, was a founding partner and first administrator of Tabasco Capital. SIMMA also reported its address as Senda Eterna 332 in Querétaro, which later appeared on documents for Comercializadora Mexqro.

Before taking control of Tabasco Capital, de la Flor López headed Construservicios ESL and AF Instalaciones. Construservicios ESL had Hugo Carmona Velázquez as a legal representative; he later became a partner of SIMMA. Carmona is also linked to Constructora 112029, which listed the same Querétaro tax address as Construservicios ESL. Comercializadora Mexqro shows another connection: in 2021, Yetzabeth Adriana Jiménez López joined as a minority partner, the same year she took control of Constructora 112029.

Sham Competition

In Tulum, Construservicios ESL, Constructora 112029, and SIMMA all participated in a tender to build the Malecón of the Cobá lagoon. Although the three were supposed to compete, records show they shared people and addresses. Their economic proposals were separated by only a few thousand pesos.

Cost Overruns

One contract awarded to SIMMA for the expansion and renovation of the Parque de las Palapas in Cancún was originally valued at about 26.5 million pesos; the final cost surpassed 44 million pesos.

The Quintana Roo Public Works Secretariat also added Comercializadora Mexqro and SIMMA to its 2024 contractor registry. SIMMA won another 2024 contract to rehabilitate the second park in Villas del Sol, in Playa del Carmen, for 16.9 million pesos. Among the companies in the network, SIMMA received the largest total value of contracts in the state.

SIMMA has also done business with JSC Servicios Aduanales, a Tamaulipas company investigated for fuel-related tax fraud. That company supplied Ahavat Logistics Solution, a fuel trader sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in late June for its role in a money-laundering network of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.