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.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Tuesday against members of the Gulf drug cartel, based in the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has sanctioned three members of the Gulf Cartel over the group's illegal fishing operations near South Padre Island. The sanctions target Francisco Javier Sierra Angulo,

The Treasury Department issued sanctions against a Mexican drug cartel for their role in illegal red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.