Cartels are Increasingly Turning to Social Media to Recruit Americans for Human Smuggling

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Thursday that Operation Lone Star, the state's plan to combat undocumented immigrants which was launched in 2021, has led to Texas arresting "49,400+ criminals, issuing 42,500+ felony charges, and seizing over HALF A BILLION deadly fentanyl doses."

However, in that same time span, Texas authorities report a staggering 1,150% rise in smuggling arrests since the launch of the operations, with most of those charged being U.S. citizens unaware of the illegal nature of their actions, as a new sprawling report from The Texas Tribune reveals.

But perhaps the most revealing finding from the Tribune is the fact that Cartels operating along the U.S.-Mexico border are increasingly using social media platforms to recruit Americans into human smuggling, taking advantage of vague job offers and promises of fast cash to lure victims.

The report explains that social media posts on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat advertise vague opportunities such as driving jobs with guaranteed payments of thousands of dollars. Recruits often receive instructions through encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, where they are directed to border areas to pick up passengers and transport them to cities like San Antonio or Houston.

"We have Uber, we have Lyft, we have a lot of these different services where normal everyday citizens are drivers," said Mary Pietrazek, a San Antonio defense attorney who's represented nearly 500 people arrested under the state's human smuggling law to The Texas Tribune. "It's not outside the realm of possibility for somebody to want a driver."

The strategy appears to be targeting younger, financially vulnerable Americans as about half of those arrested for smuggling in Texas in recent years were under the age of 27, with teenagers accounting for 6% of arrests annually, with many recruits only realizing the criminal implications after encountering law enforcement or observing signs that their passengers are undocumented.

Eric Brown, CEO of Imperio Consulting and a former Green Beret, told The Latin Times that these tactics mirror methods used in human intelligence operations to coerce individuals intro actions they wouldn't consider under normal settings:

"A common framework in human intelligence gathering is MICE—Money, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego—an acronym that describes the primary motivations that could drive someone to betray their country or become an insider threat, often revealing sensitive information to an enemy. Cartels are employing the 'Money' element of this model by exploiting financial desperation with promises of fast cash, while also leveraging 'Coercion' through veiled threats or pressures to keep recruits compliant"

Texas lawmakers have responded by imposing harsher penalties for smuggling. Under a 2023 law, individuals convicted of human smuggling now face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. However, the crackdown has also drawn criticism for overwhelming local courts and disproportionately punishing individuals with limited involvement in organized crime.

Texas law enforcement made 1,400 human smuggling arrests the year before Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in early 2021. By 2022, the number had exploded to 17,500.