Along the coast, the U.S. Coast Guard is seeing fewer lanchas — or Mexican fishing boats — out on the water after the U.S. Treasury Department announced more sanctions against the Gulf cartel.

In November, the treasury department said members of the Gulf drug cartel were responsible for the illegal fishing of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

The demand for seafood is high, and illegally caught fish are sold in markets on both sides of the border.

READ MORE: US says a drug cartel is behind the longstanding problem of illegal fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

In a story you’ll only see on Channel 5 News, reporter Christian von Preysing and chief photojournalist Mark Vecchio joined members of the U.S. Coast Guard as they patrolled the waters for illegal fishermen.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Shane Gunderson said this year, they’ve caught 16 lanchas and their crew members. 

It’s similar to last year’s figures. 

“I'd say the difference in the last two weeks has been a decline in interdictions,” Gunderson said.

Lancheros are drawn to good fishing conditions in U.S. waters.

“A single lancha can carry thousands of pounds of fish, two to three thousand pounds worth of red snapper,” Gunderson said. “That red snapper is selling on the U.S. market for upwards of $13 per pound."

Lanchas often operate near the maritime border and escape back across before Coast Guard crews get close.

In September, a patrol boat caught a lancha with 500 pounds of illegally caught fish.

“It's the same lanchas we interdict that do the IUF — or illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — are the same ones that are moving migrants, the same ones that are moving drugs as well,” Gunderson said.

Five people who were sanctioned in connection to illegal fishing out of Playa Bagdad, located east of Matamoros on the Gulf coast, had their U.S. assets frozen. 

“I think the enforcement efforts we've been doing over the last few years, combined with the sanctions, is really drawing national attention to this problem,” Gunderson said. “In doing so, we're bringing in more government resources."

Watch the video above for the full story.