U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has partnered with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to impose sanctions on Jumilca Sandivel Hernandez Perez, a leader within the Lopez Human Smuggling Organization. This organization is based in Guatemala and is known for smuggling thousands of migrants from Guatemala through Mexico into the United States.
Hernandez Perez has been linked to operations with La Linea, a drug trafficking group sanctioned by the U.S., and has been involved in criminal activities such as the 2019 murders of nine American citizens in Sonora, Mexico. ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso special agents began an operation against the Lopez HSO in 2023, leading to multiple indictments and arrests across three states.
On July 25, 2024, further indictments were announced by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico against members of both Lopez HSO and La Linea for their roles in human smuggling operations into the United States. La Linea was designated under Treasury’s counternarcotics authorities in 2021.
“ICE is committed to identifying, disrupting, and dismantling Transnational Criminal Organizations that exploit vulnerable individuals and jeopardize border security,” stated ICE HSI acting Executive Associate Director Robert Hammer. He emphasized that these sanctions aim to hold accountable those profiting from human trafficking while enhancing community security.
The Lopez HSO has primarily targeted areas such as New Mexico, Arizona, California, Texas, Virginia, and other states far from the U.S.-Mexico border for their smuggling operations. The organization exploited U.S. financial systems by using banks for transactions related to their activities. It is estimated that between September 2020 and 2023, they generated $104 million to $416 million in illicit proceeds by charging each smuggled person between $13,000 and $16,000.
This sanctioning effort represents a collaborative government approach involving ICE HSI El Paso Field Office, ICE HSI Human Smuggling Unit, OFAC, Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force program.
