Mexican drug cartel hacked surveillance cameras to track and kill FBI informants

A hacker employed by a fearsome cartel once led by 'El Chapo' managed to gain access to surveillance cameras in Mexico City to track down and kill informants for the FBI, according to a report by the US Justice Department. The hacker also obtained the phone records of an FBI official known as an ‘assistant legal attaché’ (ALAT) at the American embassy in the Mexican capital.

The ‘Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Efforts to Mitigate the Effects of Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance’ said the hacker was employed by the Sinaloa Cartel, synonymous with Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán - who was arrested for a final time in 2016 before being extradited to the US.

The FBI was working on El Chapo’s case when it was tipped off that the hacker offered “a menu of services related to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices”.

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After identifying the ALAT at the embassy, the hacker used their phone number to “obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data”.

The report said: “According to the FBI, in addition to compromising the ALAT's phone, the hacker also accessed Mexico City's camera system, used the cameras to follow the ALAT through the city, and identified people the ALAT met with. According to the case agent, the cartel used that information to intimidate and/or kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses.”

The report said the incident in 2018 led to the Sinaloa Cartel using the information to “intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses”. The hacker, victims and ALAT were not identified in the report.

In a stark warning to authorities attempting to curtail the power of drug cartels, the report also warned that advances in technology had “made it easier” for “less-sophisticated nations and criminal enterprises to identify and exploit vulnerabilities” in information collected by governments. The Bureau said a plan was in process to try and tackle such vulnerabilities; this includes more training for agents.

This week, police in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas unveiled a fleet of armed drones they say will better position them against the heavily armed drug cartels vying for control of their border with Guatemala. Frequently outgunned by cartels with heavy guns and increasingly with drones that drop improvised explosive devices, Mexican authorities are trying to catch up.

Concerningly, the same Chiapas state police force generated an international diplomatic incident earlier this month when they pursued an alleged gunmen into neighbouring Guatemala, engaging in an extended shootout in the streets of border town La Mesilla.

The drones could be equipped to carry guns or to fight fires, said Chiapas Security Secretary Óscar Aparicio Avendaño. He did not explain what the rules of engagement would be for police using an armed drone.

Chiapas has struggled in the past couple years with competition between Mexico's two most powerful cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as they fight for control of lucrative smuggling routes along the Guatemalan border.