US EditionIllegal Fishing: Cartels Expand Criminal Activity Beyond Drug, Human Smuggling
- The Drug Enforcement Administration's 2025 report on drug-related threats highlights that Mexican cartels have broadened their illicit operations to include illegal fishing activities near the U.S. Border.
- This expansion follows years of cartels diversifying into kidnapping, extortion, petroleum theft, and other illegal markets to increase their revenue and operational resilience.
- The Gulf Cartel runs illegal fishing out of Playa Bagdad, using fast boats called lanchas to traffic red snapper and shark species, often forcing communities to sell fish under threat of death.
- In November 2024, Treasury sanctioned five Gulf Cartel members, noting cartels cause tens of billions in lost Mexican tax revenue and billions in U.S. Oil and gas losses due to petroleum smuggling.
- The DEA and Treasury remain committed to disrupting these networks, focusing on illicit petroleum smuggling operations, which threaten economic growth, ecosystems, and food systems on both sides of the border.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Illegal fishing: Cartels expand criminal activity beyond drug, human smuggling
(The Center Square) – The modern cartels in Mexico supply the illicit drug market in America, but they've also shifted to new criminal schemes, diversifying into kidnapping, extortion, illegal mining, petroleum theft and illegal fishing.
As If Things Weren't Bad Enough, Now the Cartels Are Stealing Fish
Illegal fishing: Cartels expand criminal activity beyond drug, human smuggling - Regional Media News
(The Center Square) – The modern cartels in Mexico supply the illicit drug market in America, but they’ve also shifted to new criminal schemes, diversifying into kidnapping, extortion, illegal mining, petroleum theft and illegal fishing. President Donald Trump moved to classify the six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations early in his term. Experts often call them transnational criminal organizations because their reach has expande…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
Ownership
To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage
