Robert Hammer Acting Executive Associate Director, Homeland Security Investigations | U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has partnered with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control to impose sanctions on Jumilca Sandivel Hernandez Perez, a leader in the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization (HSO). This organization is involved in smuggling thousands of migrants from Guatemala through Mexico into the United States.
Hernandez Perez is known for coordinating operations with La Linea, a violent drug trafficking group sanctioned by the U.S., and has been linked to several criminal activities, including the 2019 murders of nine American citizens in Sonora, Mexico. The Lopez HSO is based in Guatemala and is responsible for moving migrants primarily to New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents initiated an operation against the Lopez HSO in 2023. This effort spanned three states and led to multiple indictments and arrests. In July 2024, further indictments were announced against members of the Lopez HSO and a La Linea cartel member assisting in human smuggling across Mexico into the U.S.
"ICE is committed to identifying, disrupting, and dismantling Transnational Criminal Organizations that exploit vulnerable individuals and jeopardize border security," stated ICE HSI acting Executive Associate Director Robert Hammer. "These sanctions...hold accountable those who profit from human trafficking."
The Lopez HSO has reportedly exploited the U.S. financial system for their operations, generating between $104 million and $416 million from September 2020 to 2023 by charging each smuggled person between $13,000 and $16,000.
This sanctioning represents a collaborative government effort involving ICE HSI El Paso Field Office, ICE HSI Human Smuggling Unit, OFAC, Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force program.
