Last week, I talked about terrorist group ISIS and how they use today’s technology to help fuel their evil and madness. They’re not the only ones. Let’s look at the face off between technology vs. drug cartels.
Throughout Mexico, that nation’s most tech savvy engineers, architects, web programmers and other workers are disappearing. Years may pass before these cases are solved. It’s believed these men and women are being kidnapped and forced to work for Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels. Around 40 Mexican tech workers have vanished since the late 2000s. For example, in 2009, nine cell tower operators vanished in Nuevo Laredo. In 2011, an IBM employee was carjacked then kidnapped while driving to Laredo, Texas. Their tasks could include hacking, building radio and online networks, and interpreting chatter from law enforcement. They could be forced into a world of drug trafficking, extortion, theft, even human slave trafficking. Because the areas being searched are mountainous and rural, and because the cartels’ communication systems are often sophisticated, tracking these victims is far easier said than done. There are some waves of progress. One 2011 bust severely damaged a cartel’s network. Over 1,000 radios, 1,300 cellphones, 1,300 NexTel gadgets and 160 antennas were confiscated. This bust compromised over 500 miles of their network. But no kidnapping victim was found. No ransom has been asked for their release back to their family or friends. It’s believed victims are kept alive only because their work is valuable to the cartels’ criminal causes.
There’s another reason these innocent woman and men may never be founded: corruption. These illegal cartels make billions a year. It’s easy for any law enforcement agent, political leader, journalist or clergyman to get tempted. In this link is one story that made me sick. Here’s another thing to think about: brainwashing techniques. What if these kidnapped victims have been so seduced by the money and power that they don’t want to come home, but continue in these awful deeds? Technology can break down networks and track bad guys. But can technology transform human minds and hearts?