Mexican Cartels Take To Social Media To Recruit Smugglers Amid Border Surge

Criminal cartels in Mexico are using social media to recruit U.S. citizens to assist with their smuggling operations at the southern border. Officials said this has played a role in the unprecedented surge in migrants.

According to Fox News, officials apprehended a trailer tractor hauling dozens of migrants, making it the latest instance where such recruitment methods were used. Transnational criminal syndicates typically operate on both sides of the border. Operatives are tasked with collecting drugs, contraband, and even illegal migrants as they cross the border. Authorities said that traffic has significantly increased at the border the likes of which have never been seen in recent memory. Agents report over 2.1 million encounters this fiscal, not yet counting the estimated 600,000 migrants who have slipped past the overwhelmed border patrol agents.

The increase in traffic has proven beneficial for criminal organizations, who now resort to soliciting U.S. citizens to work as smugglers via social media. Texas DPS spokesman Christopher Olivarez said law enforcement has seen a significant number of recruitment videos circulating across different social media platforms. He added that these individuals are being recruited from larger, metropolitan cities such as Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and even cities beyond the border states, to help smuggle illegal migrants.

He continued, saying the cartels are also using social media platforms to recruit new members into their organizations, including teenagers. Authorities added that platforms such as Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp have all been used for the recruitment of smugglers and juveniles looking to join the cartel.

Griff Jenkins, a producer for Fox News, shared a post from Tik Tok on Twitter on Friday, what appears to be a job offer for $70,000 to drive an 18-wheeler from Mcallen to Houston. Jenkins explained in the post that this is one of many videos posted by cartel members to recruit smugglers around the United States.

U.S. lawmakers and officials have been working to quell the recruitment tactics by the cartel with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who introduced a bill last week that was designed to quash the use of social media platforms in recruiting people for human trafficking operations.