Northeast Cartel Traffics With Migrants Taking Advantage Of Social Networks.

Mica for cartelinsider.com

Organized crime groups use different strategies to achieve their objectives, which also involves the use of technology. For example, US authorities have detected that the Sinaloa Cartel, specifically the Los Chapitos faction, used cryptocurrency to launder money.

Another criminal organization that has also opted for the use of technology is the Northeast Cartel. This criminal structure has been linked to drug trafficking and various violent acts in the country, such as confrontations with authorities, abandonment of human remains, among others.

However, another one of the criminal activities with which not only the Northeast Cartel, but also various organized crime groups are associated, is human trafficking.

In recent actions, on January 18, the United States Department of Justice reported that three individuals pleaded guilty to conspiring to human trafficking in actions linked to the Northeast Cartel. Among these individuals is a young Mexican identified as Luis Daniel Segura Guzmán.

The events began in August 2023, when agents became aware of a social media post allegedly discussing an illegal transportation service for individuals seeking to enter US territory. An investigation revealed that Segura Guzmán was responsible for coordinating the transportation of migrants.

Daniel Segura charged approximately 8 thousand dollars (over 137 thousand pesos at the current exchange rate) for the transportation of people. A black Ford Raptor vehicle would be the designated unit for transporting people.

Laredo Bernardo Aniceto Garza, another of the men who pleaded guilty, was driving the mentioned truck and on his part, agents canceled a meeting with Segura. Garza arrived at a parking lot with the intention of picking up three other people and then taking them to a truck yard, but upon leaving the place, he was arrested and authorities found a weapon inside the truck.

Later, on September 16th, Daniel Segura was arrested. Three days later, he was arrested while being involved in another smuggling case.

Segura admitted that the CDN had recruited him in Mexico to smuggle foreigners and that he worked with Suárez to do it. The authorities located a cell phone in Segura’s possession that was still connected to the social media account used to announce and coordinate the smuggling event.

As a result, the three individuals face a sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine that could reach up to 50,000 dollars.

“The cartels are increasing the use of social media as part of their illegal business model. These social networks allow these organizations to advertise human trafficking services to large audiences,” stated US prosecutor Alamdar S. Hamdani.

The criminal group was born as a breakaway from Los Zetas, the organization InSight Crime obtained statements in March of last year from a pastor who pointed out that the group commits extortions. “They watch all the shelters here […] They extort us and the migrants,” were the man’s words.

Even the organization specialized in drug trafficking issues reported that the criminal group kidnapped migrant advocates in Nuevo Laredo.

According to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), criminal groups can generate up to 500 million dollars a year in profits from migrant trafficking.

Another of the criminal organizations involved in human trafficking is the Gulf Cartel and the criminal cell Bad Habits, which was linked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to the Sinaloa Cartel.

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Mica

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