AA
Share
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday sanctioned the Abdul Karim Conteh Human Smuggling Organization (HSO Karim), a transnational criminal network based in Tijuana, Mexico, with affiliates in several countries, including Nicaragua.
“HSO Karim’s reach extends both regionally and globally; for example, HSO Karim maintains affiliates and has coordinated the movement of migrants through Nicaragua,” the statement said.
According to U.S. authorities, Abdul Karim Conteh, a native of Sierra Leone, is the leader of the human smuggling organization “responsible for smuggling thousands of migrants from Africa, China, the Middle East, Russia, Central Asia and other jurisdictions into the United States.”
Taken from the U.S. Treasury Department
His wife, Mexican national Veronica Roblero Pivaral, is also involved and is accused of playing “a variety of important roles in the organization, ranging from driving migrants to the U.S. border to receiving payments for smuggling operations.
How It Worked
The release states that in violation of U.S. immigration laws, this organization “has for years smuggled migrants into the United States for its own financial gain.”
“In addition to providing migrants with fraudulent documents, HSO Karim members take advantage of the U.S. financial system to receive payments for their illicit smuggling operations,” the release notes.
In addition, the organization’s standard methodology “is to transport migrants to the U.S. border and advise them on how to cross the border illegally,” according to the press release.
The OFAC also sanctioned Togolese national, Pasaman Francis Marin Abbe Pidoukou and Sierra Leonean Issa Kamara. Both members of the smuggling organization are responsible for facilitating the transportation of migrants.
“Today’s action, working closely with our U.S. and international partners, disrupts the ability of those who seek to exploit and endanger desperate people in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
The U.S. official stated that the sanctions are part of the Joe Biden Administration’s effort to address the crisis on the southwest border and remain committed to “using our tools to degrade the ability of groups like HSO Karim to engage in these illicit operations.”
The Treasury sanctions also supplement a formal accusation handed down by a federal grand jury in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.
