One of the most dangerous drug cartels in Mexico is believed to be using artificial intelligence to expand its criminal empire. In a new...
One of the most dangerous drug cartels in Mexico is believed to be using artificial intelligence to expand its criminal empire.
In a new report, Interpol has named the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) as one of many organized crime groups harnessing AI to expand their illicit operations. According to Interpol, the CJNG and other organized crime groups are pulling off "more sophisticated and professional fraud campaigns" using AI, large language models and cryptocurrencies.
Interpol's Global Financial Fraud Assessment report also found that human trafficking is being expanded across the globe "for the purpose of forced criminality in call centers." Trafficked people are used to conduct so-called "pig butchering" investment scams with crypto. The report said "there is emerging evidence" of the CJNG and other Central and South American crime groups, such as Brazil's Red Command and First Capital Command, moving into "the commission of financial fraud."
"The most common types of fraud across the Americas are impersonation, romance, tech support, advance payment and telecom frauds," reads the report.
"Human trafficking-fuelled fraud continues to be a growing crime phenomenon. The Interpol coordinated operation, Operation Turquesa V, revealed that hundreds of victims were trafficked out of the region after being lured via messaging apps and social media platforms and coerced to commit fraud, including investments fraud and 'pig butchering,'" continued the report.
Pig butchering is a complicated scam that gets people lured into making lucrative investments into cryptocurrency. But these investments are fake, and once victims send enough funds, the scammers disappear.
"We are facing an epidemic in the growth of financial fraud, leading to individuals, often vulnerable people, and companies being defrauded on a massive and global scale," warned Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock. "Changes in technology and the rapid increase in the scale and volume of organized crime has driven the creation of a range of new ways to defraud innocent people, businesses and even governments."
"With the development of AI and cryptocurrencies, the situation is only going to get worse without urgent action," Stock added.
Republicans calling for elimination of CJNG leaders
Republican lawmakers have launched a legal initiative to put pressure on the Department of Defense to fight the CJNG of Mexico by targeting the cartel's leadership.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced a bill in the Senate requiring “regular briefings on efforts to capture or kill the leadership of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.”
If approved, the Pentagon would have to report to Congress every 90 days on its efforts in this regard, although the legislation does not imply that Defense Department would have to launch an operation to strike the cartel's leaders in Mexico.
“Mexican drug cartels continue to kill Americans at a rate higher than any terrorist group in history," said Cotton. "Even by the standards of drug cartels, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is especially violent and poses a direct threat to the security of Americans in border states and beyond. It’s past time that the Biden administration develops a strategy to hold these murderers accountable.”
In the United States, concern has been growing about Mexican cartels and the penetration of their illicit businesses on the American side of the border. The CJNG is known not only for the vastness of its resources and its weapons' power but also for its violence and cruelty, taken to even greater extremes as the group battles the Sinaloa Cartel for control of markets inside and outside of Mexico.
"It is important that there are no safe havens for financial fraudsters to operate. We must close existing gaps and ensure information sharing between sectors and across borders is the norm, not the exception," said Stock. "We also need to encourage greater reporting of financial crime as well as invest in capacity building and training for law enforcement to develop a more effective and truly global response."
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