U.S. Tags Gulf Cartel Fishing/Smuggling Operation Along Texas Coast

Federal authorities identified an illegal fishing operation used by the Gulf Cartel that doubles as a human smuggling and drug trafficking scheme.

Based out of Playa Bagdad or Costa Azul beach just east of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the fishing operation sends out crews of fishermen in 20-30-foot-long fiberglass boats called “lanchas.” The fishermen illegally catch red snapper and shark fins in Mexican and U.S. waters, as the U.S. Department of Treasury revealed in their most recent Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) designation. The seafood is then sold through businesses in both Mexico and South Texas.

According to authorities, the same lanchas used by the fishermen are used to smuggle humans and drugs from Matamoros into South Texas.

The Treasury Department identified five individuals from the Gulf Cartel as part of their OFAC designation. The designation forbids U.S. citizens, businesses, and financial institutions from doing business with anyone in that designation.

The designation names the regional bosses in charge of Playa Bagdad as Ismael “Mayelo” Guerra Salinas, and his brother Omar “Samorano” Guerra Salinas. Authorities claim that the two control the beach on behalf of the Gulf Cartel for illegal fishing, as well as drug trafficking and human smuggling.

The government sanction also names Francisco Javier “El Borrado” Sierra Angulo as the current top leader of the Gulf Cartel in Matamoros.

The government action also named Raul “La Burra” Decuir Garcia and Ildelfonso “El Chivo” Carrillo Sapien, two fisherman camp owners who allegedly oversaw the Gulf Cartel’s boating operations.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel has been directly linked to hundreds of murders, ransom kidnappings, and other violent crimes in recent years where U.S. citizens and Mexican nationals have been targeted.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros issued two separate travel warnings about kidnapping operations by the Gulf Cartel where they were targeting U.S. citizens and residents for ransom kidnappings. Mexico’s government tried to dismiss the travel warning, claiming that the U.S. Consulate was basing its information on anecdotal information and not on Mexican government statistics.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.