On 30 October the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) sanctioned a human smuggling organisation based in Cancún, in Mexico’s Quintana Roo state.
Analysis:
The US administration of President Donald Trump has increasingly leveraged sanctions to target Mexican criminal organisations, as well as financial institutions and allegedly corrupt politicians. The latest sanctions shift the focus from drug trafficking to human smuggling, as the Trump administration looks to reduce the number of migrants crossing illegally into the US. While a combination of hardline US anti-migration policies and cooperation from Mexican security forces led to the smallest number of migrant apprehensions at the US-Mexico border in fiscal year (FY) 2025, apprehensions have been creeping up in recent months following a low in July. Trump will likely seek to raise pressure on Mexico’s government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum to reverse this rise.
- Ofac sanctioned the Bhardwaj human smuggling organisation as well as its leader Vikrant Bhardwaj, three associates including his wife, and 16 companies that it said had “facilitated and profited” from the criminal activities.
- According to Ofac, the group “has smuggled thousands of illegal aliens from Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia” into the US using its network of yachts, marinas, hostels, and hotels to transport and house the migrants. It said the group worked with the Hernández Salas transnational criminal organisation (TCO), an alleged human smuggling organisation based in Mexicali, Baja California state, which Ofac sanctioned in June 2023.
- Along with Bhardwaj, Ofac also sanctioned José Germán Valadez Flores, “a businessman and drug trafficker” who it said bribes “corrupt Mexican officials” to enable the smuggling of migrants into Cancún, and Jorge Alejandro Mendoza Villegas, a former police officer in Quintana Roo, who “has access to the Cancún International Airport to help coordinate the arrival and departure of undocumented migrants”.
- On 7 October the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that FY 2025 finished with the lowest US border patrol apprehensions since 1970 with 237,565. DHS said this was 87% below the average of the last four fiscal years which was 1.86m.
Looking Ahead: Despite the FY 2025 figures, monthly figures show an upwards trend, with 8,386 apprehensions recorded in September, up from 6,317 in August, and 4,592 in July
