The cartel allegedly uses fishing boats to smuggle drugs and migrants — and catch tons of red snapper, a commercially valuable but vulnerable species.

The sanctions, announced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), mark a significant action against the cartel, which is better known for its violent drug trafficking. The Gulf Cartel has expanded into illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to fund its broader criminal enterprises, according to U.S. officials.

The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted three lancha crews, seizing 2,200 pounds of illegally caught fish and detaining 19 Mexican fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico.

For years, U.S. authorities and fishermen have complained about illegal fishing for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, and now it’s clear who is behind the lucrative trade: a Mexican drug cartel

The Treasury Department issued sanctions against a Mexican drug cartel for their role in illegal red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.