Mexican cartels are increasingly using social media to recruit people in the U.S. to assist in their smuggling operations at the border between the two countries.
A video posted on Wednesday, October 19, and released by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), shows the following message alongside an image of a truck:
“Need someone who can drive an 18-inch wheel truck now, from Mcallen to Houston, already ready, $70,000.”
Texas DPS spokesperson Christopher Olivarez said in an interview with Fox News that the department has seen an increase in recruitment videos on social media sites since last year.
“Many individuals from larger metropolitan areas, such as Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and even out of state (Texas), are being recruited as drivers through social media platforms to smuggle illegal immigrants,” he added.
Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee recently wrote to TikTok about the use of the platform to recruit smugglers:
“It seems that, through your platform, cartel members are openly glorifying and normalizing illegal behavior and violence to recruit new members, most recently American teenagers,” the letter stated.
A TikTok spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time: “TikTok strictly prohibits the promotion or facilitation of criminal activities, and we work with third-party intelligence companies to enhance the identification of potential trafficking or smuggling and report to law enforcement as appropriate.”
Fox has also reported that smugglers were using WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram to advertise caravans of immigrants forming in Central American countries to illegally cross the border into the U.S.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., introduced a bill last week aimed at cracking down on the use of social media platforms by cartels to recruit people for trafficking operations.
Source: Fox News