US declares sanctions on Mexican migrant-trafficking gang

MEXICO CITY (AP) – The United States Treasury on Friday introduced sanctions on a Mexico-based migrant-trafficking gang that equipped asylum seekers with false papers to recreation the method.

Known because the Hernandez Salas group, the gang relies within the border metropolis of Mexicali, throughout the border from Calexico, California.

Since not less than 2018, the gang organized journey by migrants from “countries posing national security concerns,” in response to the Treasury Department, although it didn’t specify what nations these had been.

The gang then smuggled the migrants into the United States.

The Treasury stated in an announcement that the prison scheme hurts those that actually need asylum safety.

“The practice of human smuggling and the facilitation of fraudulent documentation undermines the U.S. asylum system,” the assertion stated, “damaging public confidence in the vetting process and jeopardizing access to protection for vulnerable persons fleeing conflict, famine, and persecution.”

The gang is allegedly run by a girl, Ofelia Hernández Salas, with hyperlinks to the Sinaloa drug cartel. The sanctions additionally utilized to 4 associates and two motels used to accommodate migrants. Hernández Salas is beneath arrest in Mexico and is awaiting extradition to face U.S. expenses.

The division stated the gang charged migrants between $10,000 and $70,000 for package deal offers of journey to Mexico, pretend paperwork and smuggling charges to enter the United States.