Monday, June 30, 2025
A hacker working on behalf of the Sinaloa drug cartel infiltrated cameras and phones to track an FBI official in Mexico investigating the drug lord El Chapo, then used data from that surveillance to kill and intimidate potential sources and witnesses the agent was meeting with. The hacker had observed people going in and out of the US Embassy in Mexico City and identified "people of interest" for the cartel, including the FBI Assistant Legal Attache (ALAT), and then was able to use the ALAT's mobile phone number to obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data, associated with the ALAT's phone. Link: justice.gov.
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This is extraordinary poor tradecraft on the part of the FBI ALAT, but this can happen to the best of investigators. I knew an FBI Special Agent as well as a US Postal Inspector who were both hacked years ago by different nefarious actors. Until the insatiable American demand for drugs dries up, as well as the illegal supply of weapons to Mexico via the "Iron River," the drug cartels will continue their lucrative and violent operations. Experienced Colombian military veterans have been recruited by the drug cartels, posing a serious threat to Mexican security services. Below, Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera aka "el Chapo Guzman" is escorted by Mexican marines in 2014 in Mexico City. In 2018, he was sentenced to life plus 30 years.
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