Revealed: The Hacker Who Helped El Chapo Murder the FBI’s Own Informants

Deadly Technology

A shocking new report from the U.S. Department of Justice’s internal watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, exposes for the first time the terrifying methods used by the Sinaloa cartel to locate and eliminate the FBI’s key witnesses against drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

The report details how a hacker was tasked with a grim mission for El Chapo in 2018, just as Guzmán’s trial was unfolding in Brooklyn.

The hacker accessed an FBI agent’s mobile phone data and used surveillance cameras in Mexico City to map out who the agent was meeting with. The aim was to identify potential informants and witnesses to silence them—sometimes permanently.

“The cartel used the hacker’s information to intimidate and, in certain cases, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses,” the report states.

FBI Trapped in Hackers’ Web

The Sinaloa cartel’s hacking operation targeted the FBI’s own staff closely. The chosen FBI agent was the bureau’s assistant legal attaché in Mexico City—one of the highest-ranking investigators responsible for collaborating with Mexican authorities.

The hacker tracked both the agent’s phone calls and followed him via the city’s surveillance cameras, enabling the cartel to precisely pinpoint informants.

The case highlights how vulnerable even seasoned investigators can be to digital espionage. According to the report, the hacking was used to expose what should have been confidential meetings, and it remains unclear how many informants or witnesses lost their lives because of this.

A Growing Cyber Problem

The report’s revelations have sent shockwaves through the U.S. legal system and the FBI. The Department of Justice openly acknowledges that the threat from digital espionage tools is growing significantly. Even less technologically advanced nations and criminal organizations can now easily find and exploit weaknesses in the global surveillance network.

The report’s revelations raise serious questions about how effective authorities are in protecting their informants from advanced digital crime. So far, neither the U.S. State Department, the Department of Justice, nor El Chapo’s lawyers have commented publicly on the matter.

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