A transnational human smuggling organization based in Mexico and several individuals and entities associated with it have been sanctioned by the U.S.
The Hernandez Salas transnational criminal organization (TCO), based in Mexicali, Mexico, its leader Ofelia Hernandez Salas, four Mexican nationals and two hotels in Mexico were sanctioned June 16 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (UST) Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency announced at the time.
“In close coordination with our law enforcement colleagues and Mexican partners, today’s designation of Ofelia Hernandez Salas and her criminal enterprise aims to disrupt the group’s global operations,” Brian Nelson, UST under secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the news release. “We will continue to aggressively target those who seek to prey on desperate migrants and abuse the U.S. financial system.”
The Hernandez Salas TCO is responsible for facilitating the illegal entry into the U.S. of thousands of individuals, including individuals from countries posing national security concerns, the news release reports. The "sophisticated network" has been smuggling undocumented non-citizens into the U.S. since at least 2018, according to the release.
Ofelia Hernandez Salas allegedly operates a worldwide network of human smugglers, the release states. Migrants pay from $10,000 to $70,000 each for the cartel to assist them to cross into the U.S., according to the U.S. and Mexican authorities. Hernandez Salas is accused of using a chain of facilitators through multiple regions to move migrants south to the U.S. border, forging documents and involvement with the Sinaloa drug cartel, the release reports. Hernandez Salas is currently in prison in Mexico awaiting extradition to the U.S., according to the release.
Four of Hernandez Salas' smuggling associates were also sanctioned by OFAC: Mexican nationals Raul Saucedo Huipio, Jesus Gerardo Chavez Tamayo, Fatima Del Rocio Maldonado Lopez and Federico Hernandez Sanchez "for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in in support of, the Hernandez Salas TCO," the release reports.
Mexican businesses Hotel Plaza and Hotel Las Torres also were sanctioned for their role in facilitating the Hernandez Salas TCO's human smuggling activities, according to the release.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations Yuma, the DOJ Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Joint Task Force Alpha, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona and the HSI Human Smuggling Unit, with close coordination with the Government of Mexico, including La Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit), the release reports.
"The practice of human smuggling and the facilitation of fraudulent documentation undermines the U.S. asylum system, damaging public confidence in the vetting process and jeopardizing access to protection for vulnerable persons fleeing conflict, famine, and persecution," UST wrote in the release.
"This action continues the Biden-Harris administration’s whole-of-government effort to confront human smuggling on the southern border of the United States."
