The U.S. Coast Guard has detained 11 Mexican fishers for illegally catching 1,350 pounds of red snapper and nine sharks in U.S. federal waters.
The Mexican fishers were interdicted by Coast Guard officers after they were discovered fishing north of the Maritime Boundary Line on 6 February. The fishers were operating out of three lanchas – small, fast boats that some fishers use to cross quickly into U.S. waters, illegally harvest fish, and then bring their catch back to Mexico. Red snapper illegally caught by these fishers can cross back over the border to be sold to American consumers.
The fishers’ catch and gear were seized by the Coast Guard, while the fishers were turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for processing.
"Our crews will not pull back from efforts to end illegal fishing and trafficking of valuable natural resources on the maritime border. We remain committed to enforcing the laws of this nation,” Station South Padre Island Commanding Officer Lt. Shane Gunderson said in a statement. “Whether on the southern border or along the maritime boundary line in the Gulf of America, the Coast Guard will detect, deter, and interdict illicit activity that threatens our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The incident comes just a few days after the Coast Guard captured another lancha crew that had illegally captured 200 pounds of fish off the Texas coast.
Illegal red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico has come under increased scrutiny by the U.S. government. In 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued sanctions against five Mexican individuals allegedly connected to the Gulf Cartel for supporting illegal red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
“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 Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said at the time. “Treasury, as part of a whole-of-government approach to combatting transnational criminal organizations, remains committed to disrupting these networks and restricting these groups’ ability to profit from these activities.”
