According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the Gulf cartel uses fishing boats to shift drugs and smuggle migrants.

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.

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