News from a knowledgeable journalist on Mexican drug cartels/U.S. southern border caught my eye a few days ago that should be of concern.

So I looked up some information on that and found this from OilPrice.com. Major security risks, environmental issues and just overall stability of oil business and Mexico itself.

officials with Mexico’s state-run Pemex are also fighting an ever intensifying battle against pipeline theft as organized crime tries to gain a foothold in the country’s newly reformed energy sector.

From loosely organized groups of locals to feared drug cartels, those who believe there is a significant amount of illicit profit to be made here are coming out of the woodwork—and for starters they are eyeing pipelines.

The statistics tell an alarming story of a rapidly increasing number of pipeline thefts year over year.

 According to a report from Pemex released in November of 2015, incidents of illegal pipeline tapping rose a staggering 43.7 percent in 2014 over the previous year. This amounts to over 4,100 recorded pipeline taps and over 7 million liters of stolen gasoline. Pemex estimates the cost of the thefts to be $1.29 billion.

But lost revenue is just part of the story.

Fuel theft is incredibly dangerous, and there are increasing reports of injuries and death. Earlier this month, criminals illegally tapped a pipeline, causing an explosion. They were lucky to escape without injury but the pipeline had to be shut down while officials investigated the theft and repaired the damage.