Cartel Hacked Phones, Cameras to Track FBI Informants

A Mexican cartel used data a hacker pulled from Mexico City’s cameras and mobile phones to track, threaten and kill FBI sources tied to the “El Chapo” case, a new internal watchdog report found.

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The Justice Department inspector general report, which reviewed how the agency safeguards sensitive investigations from technological threats, said the cartel hired a hacker in 2018 to monitor “people of interest” linked to the FBI case as they moved through the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and surrounding areas. An informant told the bureau then that the hacker “offered a menu of services related to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices.”

The hacker used an FBI assistant legal attaché’s mobile phone number to pull call records and geolocation data, which the cartel paired with footage from Mexico City’s camera network to track, intimidate and sometimes kill sources, the report said. The Justice Department called it a “combination of vulnerabilities” that let threat actors follow U.S. officials and key sources, warning that “rapid changes in modern technology has made protecting sensitive operations, sources and personnel very difficult.”

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was recaptured in January 2016 and extradited to the United States nearly a year later after twice escaping Mexican prisons. He was convicted on charges ranging from drug trafficking and money laundering to firearms and murder conspiracy, receiving a life sentence in one of the biggest transnational narcotics cases in U.S. history.

The June inspector general report reveals how the cartel used cybercrime and related tactics to undermine the U.S.-led investigation. The inspector general called for “an enterprise-wide, concerted effort to exploit the investigative and intelligence gathering opportunities created by technical tradecraft to defend against the threat posed by changing operational technologies.”

The report urged the FBI to carry out a “comprehensive, enterprise-wide assessment” to pinpoint technology threats to its investigations and operations, and to launch training to “mitigate the threat posed to FBI investigations, personnel and sources by changing operational technologies.”

The Justice Department and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.