The U.S. Coast Guard detained 16 Mexican fishers caught illegally harvesting red snapper in U.S. waters off the coast of Texas earlier this month.
On 11 March, the Coast Guard interdicted four lanchas – small, quick vessels that can be used to quickly cross the Maritime Boundary Line to fish and then return to Mexico with their catch. Coast Guard officers seized roughly 2,500 pounds of illegally harvested red snapper. The 16 Mexican fishers on board were taken into custody and then transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for processions.
"Our crews will continue to relentlessly detect and deter threats to our nation’s sovereignty. These illegal activities support trafficking and other criminal activities on our nation’s southern maritime border," said Lt. David Anderson, commanding officer, Coast Guard Cutter Daniel Tarr. "Our enduring at-sea presence is vital in combatting these illegal operations.”
Two of the lanchas were seized by officers, while the other two “were marked and left adrift due to flooding and instability,” according to the Coast Guard.
The U.S. government has put increased pressure on cartel-associated illegal fishing operations near the southern U.S. border, with the Coast Guard intercepting multiple lanchas in recent months and the U.S. Department of Treasury targeting alleged leaders of the illegal fishing operations.
In February, the Coast Guard detained 11 Mexican fishers after catching them with 1,350 pounds of illegally harvested red snapper as well as nine sharks in U.S. federal waters. In January, the Coast Guard captured a separate lancha crew was caught with 200 pounds of illegally caught red snapper.
Late last year, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued sanctions against five individuals – Guerra Salinas, Omar Guerra Salinas, Francisco Javier Sierra Angulo, Raul Decuir Garcia, and Ildelfonso Carrillo Sapien – who it claims are leading the Gulf Cartel’s illegal red snapper fishing operations. The U.S. government claims that the cartel make millions of dollars from its lancha crews.
“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to [the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control],” the department said in December 2024. “In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more, by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.”
