On July 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization (“Lopez HSO”), a Guatemala-based transnational criminal organization (“TCO”) that was sanctioned for unlawfully smuggling migrants into the United States and for transporting and harboring migrants that are in the U.S. illegally. According to OFAC, this action was coordinated the Government of Mexico, multiple U.S. authorities and Guatemalan partners as part of a whole-of-government approach to disrupt TCO’s and the networks that profit from them.
The Lopez HSO was designated pursuant to Executive Order 13581, as amended by EO 13863, for being a foreign person that constitutes a significant TCO. As a result of this designation, all property and interests in property of this group within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more designated persons are also blocked, unless they are exempt or transactions are authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC.
On the same day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico unsealed an indictment charging eight members of the Lopez HSO, including its leader Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar who remains at large. The members were indicted by a federal grand jury on July 17, 2024, for conspiracy to bring, transport and harbor illegal aliens. Federal investigators allege that the Lopez HSO generated between $104 million and $416 million in illicit proceeds, between September 2020 and April 2023, from its smuggling operation.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | USAO of New Mexico Press Release