【Mexico】INDEP to Auction Houses, Cars, Jewelry, and Other Assets Seized from Crime: When and How to Participate

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Editor’s Note

This article outlines the upcoming electronic auction by the Institute for Returning to the People What Was Stolen (INDEP), featuring over 218 real estate properties and 145,000 movable assets seized through judicial processes. The sale marks a significant effort to repurpose recovered assets for public benefit.

First Auction of the Year

The Institute for Returning to the People What Was Stolen (INDEP) will open its first electronic auction of the year on July 25. Over 218 real estate properties and more than 145,000 items classified as movable assets will be put up for sale, all originating from seizures, embargoes, or abandonments resulting from judicial processes.

“Today we are holding a first auction with these assets that we have been able to review and verify to ensure they are free of ongoing judicial processes, that they are in good condition, and that they meet all requirements,” explained Mónica Fernández Balboa, Director General of INDEP.
What Can Be Purchased at the INDEP Auction?

The available items include:
– Houses and land, such as a three-story residence in Zapopan, Jalisco, with five bedrooms, a garage for four cars, and luxury finishes. Its starting price is 15.2 million pesos.
– Vehicles, from modest cars to armored or sports cars. For example, a 2013 armored Chevrolet Tahoe in Reynosa will be auctioned with a starting price of $325,339 pesos, and a 2016 Camaro in Veracruz, starting at $141,589 pesos.
– Machinery, such as a yellow motor grader located in Zacatecas, with a base price of $576,005 pesos.
– Jewelry, registered trademarks, commercial premises, and other financial assets.

Who Can Participate in the INDEP Auction?
Autor Foto

Any individual or legal entity. The only requirement is to be registered in the INDEP Single Registry. To do so, you must go to registroúnico.indep.gob.mx and upload the following documents:
– Official identification
– CURP (Unique Population Registry Code)
– Proof of address
– Tax status certificate
– In the case of a company, articles of incorporation or notarial power

What is the Process?

– Registration in the Single Registry.
– Consultation of the call and sale terms at subastas.indep.gob.mx.
– Selection of assets of interest.

None

– Payment of a seriousness guarantee (which is refunded if you do not win).
– Submission of online bids until August 6.

“The first thing to do is register in the INDEP single registry to have a name and a username to participate in the auctions. (…) Once you decide what you want to participate in, which assets you want to bid on, you have to click on the page and they send you an email with a link to pay the guarantee. There are guarantees that are paid for each of the modalities, whether movable or immovable property, and this guarantee is paid, which in the end, if you are not the winner of the auction, is refunded.”
How Long Can I Bid?

The auction will be open until August 6, 2025, allowing sufficient time to review the items, conduct physical visits to the properties (by appointment), and make bids securely.

“If you want to visit any of the movable or immovable properties to verify and go in person, the page also indicates how you can make contact to go to the warehouses or go to the properties and do the verification,” commented Fernández.
Where Do the Assets Come From?

All auctioned items have a legally verified origin. They come from judicial processes, seizures, embargoes, abandonments, or mandates carried out by institutions such as the SAT (Tax Administration Service), customs, and the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic.

“The assets we have for auction and for commercialization processes originate from judicial processes, as we just said, embargoes, seizures from crime, from what have been for many years also crimes and offenses, whether white-collar, fiscal, organized crime, etc.,” explained Fernández.
Is the Auction Reliable?
None

Yes. The process is supervised by public notaries and the internal control body. According to the director of INDEP, the objective is for the resources obtained to go directly to social programs, such as strengthening health centers and hospitals.

“Everything is very careful, very transparent… we are complying with the instruction of our president to generate resources legally and transparently to fulfill this objective,” she concluded.
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⏰ Published on: July 24, 2025