A Mexican drug cartel hired a hacker to track the movements of a senior FBI official in Mexico City as early as 2018.
Report says that he used access to the city’s surveillance camera network to gather intelligence that ultimately led to the killings of potential FBI informants, according to a newly released Justice Department inspector general report.
The hacker also accessed the official’s phone activity and geolocation data in what the report described as a major breach of operational security. At the time, the FBI was heavily involved in the case against Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, the notorious former head of the Sinaloa cartel.
“The hacker also was able to ‘see calls made and received’ by the FBI official and their geolocation data in a major breach of operational security,” the report said.
According to an FBI case agent cited in the document, the hacker initially surveilled individuals entering and leaving the US Embassy in Mexico City before focusing on the bureau’s assistant legal attaché, a key liaison to Mexican law enforcement. The hacker’s identity was not disclosed.
“According to the case agent, the cartel used (information provided by the hacker) to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses,” the report stated.
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The findings highlight the extent to which Mexican cartels are leveraging advanced digital tools in their ongoing battles with US authorities.
During the Trump administration, several major cartels were labeled foreign terrorist organizations, elevating the US government’s crackdown on their operations to a national security imperative.
In recent years, the FBI, DEA, and US military have ramped up their own surveillance capabilities in an effort to disrupt the Sinaloa cartel and its chief rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel—both of which are accused of trafficking fentanyl into the United States.
In April, CNN reported that the CIA was evaluating its authority to use lethal force against cartel targets.
With El Chapo in prison, cartel leadership has shifted to a younger, more tech-savvy generation.
“We’ve identified people in the cartels that specialize in cryptocurrency movements,” a senior DEA officials said earlier.
“The cartels run a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise and utilize sophisticated technology to enhance their business operations,” Derek Maltz, who served as acting DEA administrator until May, said. “They utilize state-of-art sophisticated surveillance techniques to identify law enforcement activities and their adversaries.”
The inspector general’s report also warns of a broader national security threat posed by the increasing accessibility of surveillance technology.
“Some within the FBI and partner agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have described this threat as ‘existential,’” the report stated.
The document outlines “longstanding” vulnerabilities stemming from what it calls “ubiquitous technical surveillance”—a term used to describe the broad availability of data that adversaries can exploit. It notes that rapid advances in consumer technology have made it easier for even less-sophisticated adversaries to compromise sensitive operations.
The FBI is reportedly working on a “strategic plan” to address the security weaknesses flagged in the report.
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