The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on five individuals and three entities in Mexico in a bid to disrupt operations of a transnational human trafficking network, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a press release
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2023) The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on five individuals and three entities in Mexico in a bid to disrupt operations of a transnational human trafficking network, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in a press release.
"Today, (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Hernandez Salas transnational criminal organization, a human smuggling organization based in Mexicali, Mexico, as well as several members and entities in its support network," the press release said.
Hernandez Salas is based in Mexicali, Mexico, and has been responsible for thousands of non-US citizens being smuggled from countries posing national security concerns to the United States and bypassing the appropriate vetting processes since at least 2018, according to the press release.
Mexican national Ofelia Hernandez Salas has been designated as the leader of Hernandez Salas and is currently incarcerated in Mexico awaiting extradition to the United States after she was indicted by a Federal grand jury in the US District Court for the District of Arizona in 2021, the release added.
OFAC has also designated Mexican nationals Raul Saucedo Huipio, Jesus Gerardo Chavez Tamayo, Fatima Del Rocio Maldonado Lopez, and Federico Hernandez Sanchez for being human smuggling associates at Hernandez Salas, the release said.
Additionally, the United States has designated Hotel Plaza and Hotel Las Torres in Mexico as entities used by the organization to conduct human smuggling activities, the release noted.
