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| © Screenshot: Imagen Noticias (YouTube) A train in the town of Acultzingo, Mexico, considered the train robbery capital of the world. |
[post_ads]You might’ve thought train robberies were a thing of the past, a
relic of the Wild West, but that’s not the case in the Mexican town of
Acultzingo, which is now considered the Train Robbery Capital of the
World, according to Bloomberg. And it turns out, Mazda’s taking quite a blow financially as a result.
Located
about four hours southeast of Mexico City, Acultzingo is an
impoverished community where most residents “work the land for the
living,” Bloomberg reports.
Some grow vegetables, others raise cattle, and some have taken to literally robbing trains.
Over
the past year alone, there were 521 crimes committed against cargo
trains in the town. And a chunk of those incidents bore no resemblance
to the run-of-the-mill petty crime seen in the bigger cities of northern
Mexico — vandalizing a train car or stealing railway signs. No, these
were massive, choreographed affairs that often started with a low-tech
trick that dates back to the days of the Wild West — piling rocks up
high on the tracks — and involved small armies of thieves who descended
on the derailed cars in waves to cart off the loot.
Bloomberg
says there’s no limit to what goods are purloined. The robbers have
taken tequila, shoes, toilet paper, tires. They’ve also rankled Mazda
Motor’s offices in Mexico City.
And at Mazda Motor’s offices
back in Mexico City, executives got so sick of hearing about how parts
were being stripped from their vehicles that they started shipping some
of them through the region by highway. Analysts estimate this tacks 30
percent on their transportation costs. (Mazda declined to provide
figures.)
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What’s interesting is that train robberies only
took off “recently,” Bloomberg says, “after federal authorities managed
to crack down on another crime wave—in the fuel market—that had swept
over the same section of the country.”
Once the stolen fuel market went kaput, the robbers moved onto trains.
If you want a sense of how serious they are about stealing a train’s loot, take this example in May, as described by the Mexico News Daily:
Train
robbers in Veracruz came up with a new way yesterday of halting a
freight train to steal its contents. They pulled up part of the track.
The
subsequent derailment occurred early yesterday morning in Acultzingo,
sending four cars and the locomotive off the rails. All five were
damaged but there were no injuries.
Others sabotage the
brakes, Bloomberg says, causing pileups and injuries. And when a train
derails, locals from the town come in and take the goods. It’s becoming a
growing headache for the auto industry, too, reports Bloomberg. The
head of the country’s auto industry association described the situaiton
as untenable, Bloomberg says, and Audi said the thefts have had a “big
impact” on its distribution in Veracruz, where the thefts take place.
“Every car we make has a client waiting for it,” Audi reportedly said.
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The
business issues aside, Alejandro Schtulmann, a political risk analyst,
told Bloomberg why it’s easy to get locals to get involved when a train
is derailed. He pointed to the growing trend of income inequality.
“Communities argue that the rich are getting richer and poor poorer,” Schtulmann told the news outlet, “so it’s social justice.”
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