Bangladesh, Nov. 1 -- 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 groups 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 R...