In a sweeping move targeting one of the most sophisticated human smuggling rings in the Western Hemisphere, the US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned the Bhardwaj Human Trafficking Organization (BHTO) – a Mexico-based transnational crime syndicate accused of orchestrating a global network that illegally smuggled migrants from four continents into the United States. The sanctions, announced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), also extend to the group’s alleged leader, Vikrant Bhardwaj, a dual citizen of India and Mexico, and several of his associates and companies allegedly involved in the illicit operations.

According to OFAC, the BHTO collaborated with other sanctioned criminal networks – including the Hernández-Salas Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) and individuals linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel – to facilitate the movement of thousands of undocumented migrants into US territory. The newly imposed sanctions are part of Washington’s broader effort to disrupt the financial infrastructure that fuels human smuggling and to address the growing security and humanitarian crisis along the US-Mexico border.

The Bhardwaj Human Trafficking Organization is accused of running a sprawling international enterprise that stretched across multiple continents. OFAC said the group was responsible for smuggling migrants from regions including Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia. Migrants allegedly paid the organization thousands of dollars each to be transported through a complex network that blended legal and illicit transport methods.

The US Treasury described the BHTO as “a sophisticated organization that has blended various transportation methods to facilitate the travel-by air and sea-of undocumented migrants from countries that pose national security concerns to the United States.” According to the investigation, the organization often arranged air travel for migrants from their home countries to Latin American........

© Blitz