HomeNewsAnalysisAre Mexico Drug Gangs Drafting Hackers?
ANALYSIS

Are Mexico Drug Gangs Drafting Hackers?

BELTRAN LEYVA ORG / 18 JUL 2011 BY RONAN GRAHAM EN

Recent claims that computer programmers are being forcibly recruited by Mexican drug gangs, if true, suggest that the criminal groups may be upping their efforts to reap the potential profits of cyber crime.

The story of Fernando Ernesto Villegas Alvarez recently featured in Mexican newspaper Excelsior. A 24-year-old intern at a research center in a Mexico City college, Villegas was, according to his parents, delighted to be offered an attractive job at company known as “Productos Foca.” However, things turned sour when he was enticed into working on an out-of-office project in Acapulco with the promise of a 10,000 peso bonus ($850), equivalent to his monthly wage. His final task in Acapulco was in a house in the Brisas del Marques area, where he was supposedly required to help set up email accounts for his client. However, he soon found out that this client was Edgar Valdez Villareal, alias “La Barbie,” an infamous, now-captured, drug lord from the Beltran Leyva Organization.

According to Villegas' mother, her son was gripped by fear and felt compelled to do as he was told, although he wanted to return home. However, Villegas, never did return home. On July 31, 2010, police raided the residence where he was working and sleeping. He was accused of carrying weapons belonging to the army and was told that the Mac computer he was using was stolen property. The exact nature of the work he undertook for Valdez Villareal remains unclear, and he now stands accused of possession of a grenade, with no charges relating to cyber crime. After spending 80 days in police custody, he was transferred to a federal prison in Veracruz State, where he remains. He is, according to his supporters, an innocent computer programmer who was held against his will by a violent drug boss.

According to some reports, Villegas claims that police forced him to throw a grenade in order to implicate him in being a member of the gang.

Dmitry Bestuzhev, a Latin American specialist with the global Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab, told news channel RT that he was not surprised by allegations that criminal gangs were coercing Mexican computer programmers. Bestuzhev believes these gangs are increasingly demonstrating a desire to make money from cyber crime but lack the technical knowhow within their ranks to do so. He said that they turn to computer programmers to help them to, among other things, steal information to clone credit cards and passports.

There are certainly many reasons why these gangs would be desperate to recruit programmers with the expertise to break into the world of cyber crime. Mexican drug trafficking organization are unsurprisingly attracted by the high profits and minimal risks, offered by cyber crimes like fraud, theft, and piracy. "I strongly believe that if drug dealers see [profit] in abusing kidnapped cyber-criminals, they will keep doing it,” Bestuzhev said.

It’s not clear whether Fernando Ernesto Villegas Alvarez is an innocent computer programmer, intimidated into using his expertise to help criminal gangs, but the story sounds plausible. As InSight Crime has noted, Mexico is becoming a global hub for cyber crime, due to its growing population of computer users and large number of pre-existing criminal networks. Many of these groups have seen their drug trafficking profits squeezed by President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on organized crime, and are turning to other illegal activities to bring in income.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 8 SEP 2021

Mexico remains the main international provider of marijuana for the United States, but this has greatly diminished since 2013, forcing…

CHAPITOS / 18 AUG 2022

Mexico saw outbreaks of violence last week in three different states. What can these events tell us about the country's…

COCAINE / 30 AUG 2022

Cocaine in Australia remains difficult to access, with traffickers either selling low-quality or entirely fake doses.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.