“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
He was nicknamed "The Ghost" because, despite holding no formal position, he became the true boss of the country’s customs service. According to the statement of a cooperating witness, even the Secretary of the Navy could not remove him. During the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he effectively held more power than the official heads of customs—Horacio Duarte, Rafael Marín Mollinedo, and Andrés George Fulón—all without them supposedly even realizing it.
His name is Miguel Ángel Solano Ruiz, better known as "Captain Sol." The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) identifies him as the operational and financial mastermind behind a "fiscal fuel-smuggling" network—a scheme that, between 2023 and 2025, allegedly siphoned approximately 600 billion pesos from the public treasury. Evidence suggests he acted as the key link, connecting funds from importers of illegal fuel to naval and civilian personnel working at ports and customs facilities.
However, "The Ghost’s" operations would have been impossible without the solid foundation of protection he secured from above—from the very highest echelons of the state. How did Captain Sol become the primary operator of this web of corruption? Who, or what group, allowed him to wield such power? One name that appears repeatedly in investigations and testimonies held by the FGR is that of Andy López Beltrán.
Testimonies gathered by the investigative unit of Azteca Noticias describe Solano Ruiz as a quiet, almost timid man—someone capable of remaining unnoticed while possessing exceptional intelligence. He was born in a small town in the municipality of Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, and grew up in a large family with three siblings, living without any luxuries.
In 1994, he entered the Heroic Naval Military School, where he distinguished himself through his academic performance. After spending several years at sea, he was recruited into the intelligence divisions of the Secretariat of the Navy—the branch from which the Naval Intelligence Unit (UIN) would eventually emerge. Naval intelligence is credited with playing a pivotal role in operations against major drug trafficking kingpins, such as Arturo Beltrán Leyva, Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, Heriberto Lazcano, and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
Due to his performance, the Navy assigned him to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR)—first to the National Center for Planning, Analysis, and Information for Combating Crime (CENAPI), and later to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime Investigation (SEIDO). His twisted career path offers a lesson that cannot be overlooked: the alleged mastermind behind one of the largest frauds ever committed in Mexico was an operative trained by the state itself to combat its most dangerous criminals.
The betrayal by "El Fantasma" (The Ghost) is more than just a personal anecdote; it exposes the failure of institutions that end up creating the very monsters that later inflict harm upon society. This case is reminiscent of the "ETAs"—elite Mexican military personnel, some of whom were trained in the United States—who also served within the PGR before crossing the line into illegality to join the Gulf Cartel, then led by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén.
For several years, Miguel Ángel Solano’s superior was Gustavo Salas, who headed both CENAPI and, subsequently, SEIDO. It is likely that, during this time, "El Fantasma" identified the state’s vulnerabilities and the most lucrative criminal enterprises. Among these, he discovered one that, at first glance, appeared less serious than others: it did not involve the trafficking of drugs, weapons, or human beings, but rather something simpler—fuel smuggling.
If one manages to pass off gasoline or diesel—which are subject to high excise taxes—as additives or lubricants, which are taxed at a much lower rate, the profit potential is enormous. Selling these products multiplies the profit margin. All signs point to "Captain Sol" switching sides in 2017. This coincided with the departure of Gustavo Salas; Salas left his post in December 2016, while Solano resigned from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in February 2017, retiring from the Navy shortly thereafter.
Between May and June of this year, a series of companies emerged that appear to have served as vehicles for this operation, including Gersap Transportes, Marapú Ingeniería, Saenmar, Aliso Valle Constructora, and Comercializadora Industrial Comp. All were established using "straw men"—very young individuals with virtually no prior business experience.
The next step, facilitated by Climacoalda Peutrera—a classmate from the Heroic Naval Academy—was to bring in the brothers Manuel Roberto and Fernando Farías Laguna. They are the nephews-in-law of Admiral Rafael Ojeda, who served as Secretary of the Navy during the López Obrador administration. According to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the head of the Navy (SEMAR) entrusted key departmental decisions to these relatives, including the appointment of naval personnel to strategic positions within the customs service—an operation that was transferred to the Navy in 2020.
At the same time, this shadowy figure incorporated Humberto Enrique López Arellano—the director of maritime customs supervision at the National Customs Agency (ANAM)—into his network, as well as, in all likelihood, López Arellano’s superior, Felipe Solano Armenta, the Director General of Customs Operations. It is also possible that he had the support of former acquaintances from the old Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
A cooperating witness recounts that when a ship loaded with diesel was docked at the port of Guaymas, Solano claimed he had already spoken with his superiors to ensure that the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office would not intervene. The testimony doesn’t clarify whether it was the State Prosecutor’s Office—headed by Gustavo Salas—or the local branch of the FGR (Federal Attorney General’s Office) in that state. Looking at the network as a whole, it is difficult to believe that a single man could have placed himself above so many institutions—including the Secretariat of the Navy, the National Customs Agency, port authorities, and various prosecutor’s offices.
Who else did "The Ghost" bring into his operation? According to cooperating witnesses, in addition to the Farías brothers, Captain Sol would often invoke "Andy"—the nickname for Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, the former president’s son—as his protector. López Beltrán has defended himself by arguing that the mere mention of a name is not proof of the truth. He may well be right, but the more interesting question is something else.
Why did "The Ghost"—who is said to be quite brilliant—choose to invoke this specific relative of the former president, rather than some other figure from the country’s political elite? One possibility is that the account is actually credible. López Beltrán has a reputation for conducting business under the umbrella of his father’s power. Another detail lends weight to this suspicion: Amil Carolan.
Carolan—at the time a very close friend of López Beltrán—has been implicated by U.S. authorities due to his ties to Portacelis, a company linked to "fiscal *huachicol*" (fuel-related tax fraud). Furthermore, the investigation into Portacelis coincides with the revocation of López Beltrán’s U.S. visa. As the Italian saying goes: *se non è vero, è ben trovato*—even if it isn’t true, it certainly seems plausible.
"The Ghost" couldn’t have gone so far with only the backing of Admiral Ojeda’s nephews. Someone higher up must have assisted him. It remains to be seen whether Captain Sol will dare to reveal who—or what group—helped him tear a massive hole in the country’s public institutions, enabling the extraction of billions of pesos in record time.
Source: ADN Noticias y Azteca Noticias
Sol’s idol!!!
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