Recently released court documents reveal that in 2018, the Sinaloa Cartel employed a hacker to carry out a sophisticated surveillance operation targeting an FBI official stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. The hacker, working for the cartel, was able to access the FBI assistant legal attaché’s phone records, including calls made and received, as well as geolocation data. This breach allowed the cartel to monitor the movements and communications of the FBI official in real time.
The hacker further exploited Mexico City’s extensive surveillance camera system to track the FBI official throughout the city. By monitoring the official’s activities and identifying individuals they met with, the cartel was able to pinpoint potential FBI informants or cooperating witnesses. According to the U.S. Justice Department Inspector General’s report, the cartel used this information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill these individuals.
This incident was disclosed in a broader audit of the FBI’s efforts to mitigate the risks posed by “ubiquitous technical surveillance” (UTS), referring to the widespread availability of surveillance technologies and the collection of personal data. The report highlights how criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel—once led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán before his extradition to the U.S.—can exploit digital vulnerabilities to compromise law enforcement operations and eliminate threats to their organizations.
The identities of the hacker, the FBI official, and the victims were not revealed in the report.
