Treasury sanctions alleged human smuggling network that spanned Mexico, India and UAE

Washington — The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sweeping sanctions on members of an alleged Mexico-based human smuggling network that it says trafficked people from four continents using yachts, hotels and cartel connections, a move officials say underscores the Trump administration’s intensifying strategy to treat migrant trafficking schemes as a direct threat to national security. 

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted the Bhardwaj Human Smuggling Organization, its alleged ringleader Vikrant Bhardwaj plus three accomplices and 16 affiliated entities on Thursday. The sanctions will freeze any U.S. property or interests tied to the sprawling group and bar U.S. persons from conducting financial transactions with the alleged criminal organization.

According to Treasury officials, the Bhardwaj HSO constructed a “sophisticated” smuggling pipeline that tapped its own collection of yachts and marinas, as well as hostels, hotels and other front operations across Mexico, India and the United Arab Emirates. 

Thousands of migrants from Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia — including some from countries deemed national security risks — were allegedly flown or sailed into Mexico, then routed north toward the U.S. border over land, a dangerous passage dubbed the “Tapachula-Cancun-Mexicali corridor.” 

Officials allege the group’s services cost migrants thousands of dollars apiece, and the group solicited operational support from individuals employed by the notorious Sinaloa Cartel. 

Investigators identified a web of corporate fronts allegedly controlled or used by the group, spanning so-called tourism companies in Mexico to real estate and hospitality firms in India and the UAE, as well as a Mexican supermarket to hide illicit revenue streams. 

The Treasury sanctioned three other associates: Jose German Valadez Flores and Jorge Alejandro Mendoza Villegas are accused of facilitating the trafficking ring by bribing officials at airports and ports of entry, while a third, Indu Rani, is identified as Bhardwaj’s wife and the lead on logistical operations.

“Today’s action, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, disrupts this network’s ability to smuggle dangerous illegal aliens into the United States,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in a statement to CBS News. “The Trump administration will continue to target and dismantle human smuggling organizations that value profit over human life.”

In recent years, U.S. authorities have expanded the use of sanctions tools — originally conceived for targeting terrorism or narcotics networks — to confront human smuggling and transnational criminal organizations. 

In June 2023, Biden-era Treasury officials targeted the Hernandez Salas smuggling network for facilitating thousands of migrants and laundering proceeds. Later that year, OFAC sanctioned the Mexican-based Malas Mañas trafficking network, linking human smuggling operations to narcotics trafficking and cartel business.

The Treasury’s latest move likens the Bhardwaj HSO to full-blown national security threats, akin to drug cartels or terrorist syndicates.

To bolster enforcement, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued an alert urging U.S. banks to look out for bulk cash smuggling and repatriation patterns tied to Mexican-based criminal organizations.

Still, Mexican officials have publicly challenged U.S. evidence prompting sanctions under the Trump administration, even questioning past designations connected to Mexican banks for alleged ties to cartel money laundering. 

In June 2025, the U.S. Treasury targeted commercial banks CiBanco and Intercam, and the brokerage firm Vector Casa de Bolsa, accusing them of moving money on behalf of cartels and their fentanyl supply chain. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, expressed frustration at the time and publicly requested that the U.S. Treasury “send proof, if they have it, so we can accompany them in the process.” 

This time around, Treasury officials tell CBS News the latest sanctioning effort against the Bhardwaj HSO was coordinated with Mexico’s financial intelligence unit – the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF) – as well as agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration.