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Current Affairs

Major Fuel Theft Boss Roberto de los Santos, ‘El Bukanas’, Captured in Puebla

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By Samantha Johnson / April 20, 2026

By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat

Major fuel theft boss Roberto de los Santos, ‘El Bukanas’, was captured by state and federal authorities in southeastern Puebla state this Saturday. El Bukanas had spent ten years on the run, avoiding government capture at least three times.


The operation in Tres Cabezas in the municipality of Chignahuapan was announced by Puebla’s state government on 19 April. The arrest was carried out by the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (SSP), la Secretaría de Marina (MARINA), Secretaría de la Defensa (DEFENSA), Guardia Nacional (GN) and Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE).

Six other gunmen were arrested in addition to El Bukanas. Authorities seized various weapons, including AR-15s, a Mossberg shotgun, and two pistols.

In addition to running fuel theft operations in Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo, El Bukanas led a criminal organization involved in extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and cargo theft. A former police officer, Bukanas was a member of Los Zetas in the early 2010s, before starting his own faction Sangre Nueva Zetas when Los Zetas were dismantled. He set up operations in Veracruz, later expanding to Puebla, and Hidalgo.



Bukanas fought against the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación in Puebla, where he was threatened in several CJNG narco banners accusing him of extortion.

El Bukanas had been a main target of the Mexican government for almost a decade. He most recently escaped capture after a failed February 2026 raid in El Paredón, a small town just two miles from Tres Cabezas, where he was finally captured.



Sources: Puebla Gob, Milenio, Laneta Noticias, Borderland Beat Archives 2018, Callejero


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