Alamo man bought gas with ‘cloned cards,’ resold it for $2 a gallon, affidavit says

Mauricio Carralero Rodriguez

A 61-year-old Alamo man was jailed Saturday on accusations that he stole 136 gallons of gasoline and proceeded to sell it for $2 a gallon.

Mauricio Carralero Rodriguez is accused of utilizing “cloned” cards to illegally obtain gasoline on three separate occasions from a Walmart in McAllen. He then sold the gasoline from his residence for $2 a gallon, according to the probable cause affidavit.

On Jan. 28, an officer with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Criminal Investigation Division received an email from a detective with the McAllen Police Department in reference to evading motor fuel tax violation.

The detective advised that a suspect used cloned cards to get gasoline at the Walmart gas station located at 5700 N. 23rd Street in McAllen on multiple dates and identified the suspect as Carralero.

They identified Carralero by using the Walmart gas station video surveillance and a license plate reader which revealed Carralero was driving a 2014 gray Chevrolet Traverse.

Carralero was arrested on Jan. 25 and was found to be in possession of 25 cloned cards.

On Feb. 5, the state police officer reviewed the surveillance footage which showed Carralero pay with a cloned card, dispensing fuel into 20-gallon white fuel tanks in the cargo area of his vehicle, placing the nozzle on top of the pump and leaving without completing the transaction on Dec. 17, 2024.

Seconds later, a man driving a black Toyota Tundra, pulls into the same pump as Carralero, grabs the nozzle left on top of the pump and begins dispensing gasoline into the truck, using the same transaction, the affidavit states.

The two had dispensed over 56 gallons of gasoline for the total cost of $150.

Then, on Dec. 22, 2024, Carralero is seen once again dispensing fuel into his vehicle this time and then into a container in the cargo area of his Traverse. This time he dispensed nearly 48 gallons of gasoline at the total cost of $120.07.

Carralero does this once more on Dec. 27, 2024, and dispenses nearly 47 gallons of fuel into his vehicle and a container in the cargo area of the Traverse for a total of $126.87.

That officer also reviewed an interview Carralero had with the McAllen detective that was recorded on Jan. 27.

In that interview, Carralero claims that he found the cards he had been using on top of a gas station pump in the beginning of January. He told the detective that he would use the cards to get gasoline at the pumps, fill tanks that were in the back of his truck and sell the gas at his house for $2 a gallon, according to the affidavit.

Carralero was charged with two counts of violation of motor fuel tax requirements and remains jailed on $30,000 in bonds.

He is also facing charges of fraudulent possession of credit cards, unlawful use of criminal instruments and credit card or debit card abuse, jail records show.

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