A Mexican drug cartel employed a hacker to monitor a senior FBI official’s movements in Mexico City as early as 2018, using data pulled from the city’s surveillance camera network, according to a new report from the Justice Department’s inspector general.
The information obtained allowed the cartel to locate and kill potential informants, the report said.
The hacker reportedly had access not only to the official’s movements but also to their phone call history and real-time location data—a significant breach of operational security. At the time, the FBI was investigating former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera.
According to the report, the hacker began by surveilling activity at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City before focusing on the FBI’s assistant legal attaché, a liaison position that collaborates closely with Mexican authorities. The hacker’s identity has not been disclosed.
The cartel used this intelligence to threaten or assassinate individuals believed to be cooperating with U.S. authorities, said the report, which examined the FBI’s broader challenges in safeguarding sensitive information and countering surveillance.
The revelations offer a rare glimpse into how cartels are exploiting technology in their war against law enforcement. During the Trump administration, fighting Mexican cartels was elevated to a national security issue, with discussions of labeling them as foreign terrorist organizations.
In response, the FBI, DEA, and U.S. military have deployed advanced surveillance tactics to penetrate Mexico’s two dominant cartels—Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation—both of which have been linked to large-scale fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. CIA has been reviewing its rules of engagement regarding the use of lethal force against cartel members.
As older cartel leaders like El Chapo have been captured or killed, a younger, more tech-savvy generation has taken the reins. “We’ve identified individuals within the cartels who specialize in moving cryptocurrency,” a senior DEA official said.
“These are multi-billion-dollar criminal organizations,” said Derek Maltz, who served as acting DEA administrator until May. “They’re using advanced technology and surveillance methods to track law enforcement activity and identify threats to their operations.”
The inspector general’s report raises alarms about the growing threat that modern surveillance poses to U.S. national security operations abroad.
Within the FBI and partner agencies like the CIA, some officials have described the threat of widespread surveillance and data collection by adversaries as “existential,” the report noted. It added that while such risks have existed for years, today’s commercially available technology makes it easier for even low-resourced criminal groups or nations to exploit vulnerabilities in U.S. operations.
The FBI is developing a “strategic plan” in response to the report’s findings and concerns. The bureau referred questions about the report to the Justice Department.