Biden admin. blacklists Mexican cartel members for illegal fishing of red snapper, shark in U.S. waters - UPI.com (2024)

The Treasury under Secretary Janet Yellen issued sanctions Tuesday targeting illegal fishing in U.S. waters. File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo

The U.S. Treasury said the cartel uses light, fast-moving lancha motorboats to smuggle drugs, weapons and people into the United States, but theses boats are also used for illegal fishing.

Mexican fishermen, aboard lanchas, target the valuable red snapper and shark species in U.S. waters, where they are abundant due to strict regulations, the Treasury said.

The lancha boats are launched into U.S. waters from Playa Bagdad, which is just miles away from the Texas border, it said.

"They then bring their catch back to lancha camps into Mexico, where the product is ultimately sold and, oftentimes, exported into the United States," the U.S. agency said, adding that this activity generates millions for the cartels and fishermen at the expense of marine species.

"Today's action highlights how transnational criminal organizations like the Gulf Cartel rely on a variety of illicit schemes like [illegal, unreported and unregulated] fishing to fund their operations, along with narcotics trafficking and human smuggling," Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement.

Those sanctioned Tuesday include Gulf Cartel members Ismael Guerra Salinas, 34; his 38-year-old brother, Omar Guerra Salinas; and Francisco Javier Sierra Angulo, 35, the leader of the Gulf Cartel in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Lancha camp owners Raul Decuir Garcia, 53, and Ildelfonso Carrillo Sapien, 48, were also blacklisted for overseeing fishermen crossing into U.S. waters on behalf of the Gulf Cartel.

"The United States remains committed to building stronger rules and standards governing international fisheries and engaging with the world's flag, coastal, port, and market States to promote responsibility and accountability," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

The sanctions freeze all assets of those named while barring U.S. persons from doing business with them.

They come after President Joe Biden in late June 2022, issued a memorandum to combat illegal fishing and related practices. The document states that the practice is "among the greatest threats to ocean health and are a significant cause of global overfishing."

Mexico has for years been under scrutiny of the U.S. government over failing to curb small vessels from illegally fishing in U.S. waters. In 2022, Washington, D.C., barred Mexican fishing vessels from entering U.S. ports.