US district court records in Texas revealed Bush White House campaign insider Josh Crescenzi was not only involved in the $46 million Pemex Zetas petro theft operation–he flat out admitted to knowing the condensate he was moving into the Texas oil market had been stolen, according to the convicted buyer in the scheme, Donald Schroeder of Trammo Petroleum in Houston.
Schroeder testified in May that Crescenzi told him over the phone that the oil Continental was selling had been stolen. The Zetas’ petro contraband ended up being bought by German giant, BASF.
Martha Mendoza’s AP story is here. En espanol, Tribuna Campeche.
This graf from yesterday’s AP story is a reminder of what’s been previously posted here at NarcoGuerra..my emphasis added..
“Mexico’s federal police commissioner, Rodrigo Esparza, cited the Zetas as an example. He said the fierce gang aligned with the Gulf drug cartel used false import documents to smuggle at least $46 million worth of oil to U.S. refineries”
That’s “import”, as in US docs not Mexican..as in Crescenzi/Continental who “imported” the condensate. Which brings a strong suspicion that Crescenzi/Continental were dealing with Zetas either directly or with a cut-out in Mexico.
If they were US customs docs, they were either falsified by Continental or somebody at Customs. If they were outright counterfeits, the Zetas were fully capable of providing those.
Either way, Crescenzi’s alleged admission that he knew the oil was stolen during his sales pitch to Schroeder at Trammo makes it clear that Crescenzi/Continental were in on this from the jump.
Was Crescenzi or another exec/manager at Continental in contact with Zetas..or with the Pemex insiders in 2006/2007?
Somebody was.
The image of Crescenzi–fresh out Karl Rove’s White House office– sitting across a desk from Zetas’ Herbierto Lazcano in Tamaulipas is like a fantastic scene conjured from a Soderburgh/Rodriguez mashup.
Yesterday’s startling revelations in this Free-Markets Gone Wild show is just the latest installment in what appears to be a long running multi-lingual series.
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