Cartels’ Sinister Tech Traps Cops & Snitches

The Sinaloa Cartel hired a hacker to access cameras and spy on an FBI official in Mexico, which led to the tracking and murder of informants in 2018, according to the US Justice Department.

A chilling reality has emerged from a recent Justice Department report: Mexican drug cartels, notably the Sinaloa organization, are wielding advanced electronic surveillance to identify and eliminate FBI informants and undercover operatives working to dismantle their lucrative operations. This development exposes the failure of lax border policies and inadequate counterintelligence measures, turning a criminal enterprise into a sophisticated adversary capable of outmaneuvering U.S. law enforcement. The implications are dire, suggesting that decades of porous borders and insufficient oversight have empowered cartels to wage a technological war on American soil, threatening national security and public safety.

The report, detailing a 2018 incident, reveals how the Sinaloa cartel employed a hacker to breach the phone records and geolocation data of an FBI assistant legal attaché stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. This breach allowed the cartel to monitor the official’s movements and communications, using Mexico City’s surveillance camera network to track and identify individuals meeting with the attaché—presumably informants or undercover agents. The information was then used to intimidate and, in some cases, kill these sources, crippling FBI efforts to penetrate the cartel’s ranks. This operation coincided with the agency’s investigation into Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, whose extradition in 2017 left his organization under new, tech-savvy leadership, including his sons, the “Chapitos.”
This is not an isolated incident. The report highlights a broader trend of “ubiquitous technical surveillance” (UTS), where advances in data mining, facial recognition, and network exploitation have leveled the playing field, enabling less-sophisticated criminal enterprises to exploit vulnerabilities once reserved for state actors. Cartels, now designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration, have embraced these tools, using hacked phone data, surveillance cameras, and even commercial databases to counter law enforcement. A separate 2023 investigation noted their access to intelligence software originally intended for Mexican authorities, further blurring the lines between crime and cyber warfare.
This escalation reflects the consequences of open-border policies that allowed unchecked inflows of personnel and technology, potentially including cartel operatives, into the U.S. The 2018 breach occurred as the FBI struggled with internal vulnerabilities, a problem the report deems “existential,” yet no comprehensive strategy has fully addressed it. Meanwhile, cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation continue to flood the U.S. with fentanyl, leveraging their tech prowess to evade detection. Recent seizures and arrests—thousands of pounds of drugs and dozens of cartel figures—show progress, but the ability to target informants suggests a deeper infiltration that undermines these efforts.The establishment narrative may downplay this as an aberration, emphasizing law enforcement’s adaptive measures, such as enhanced training and interagency task forces. However, the lack of a clear line of authority to counter UTS threats, as noted in the report, raises doubts about the government’s commitment. Posts found on X reflect growing public alarm, with some labeling this a form of “cyber warfare,” though such sentiments remain inconclusive. The reality is that cartels, enriched by billions from drug and human trafficking, can outspend and outmaneuver underfunded agencies, turning surveillance tools against the very operatives meant to stop them.
This crisis demands a robust response: fortified borders, aggressive deportation of known risks, and a reevaluation of intelligence-sharing protocols. Only by treating cartels as terrorist networks—cutting their financial lifelines and securing the homeland—can the U.S. reclaim the upper hand. As cartels evolve into tech-savvy foes, the failure to act decisively risks not just lost lives but the integrity of the nation’s law enforcement apparatus. The clock is ticking.