Cartels recruit American teenagers through social networks to smuggle migrants

Authorities assure that Cartels are using eye-catching social media posts offering money, jewelry and luxury items to lure teenagers in the United States and Mexico into migrant smuggling. across the American border.

Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers said they arrested two 19-year-old Texas men on Saturday for smuggling three migrants and leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle, which ended when they crashed. against the fence of a ranch.

One of the men who were trying to enter the United States illegally was identified as Gerardo José Ojeda Montiel, 33, a Venezuelan citizen wanted on murder charges in the US Virgin Islandssaid the Texas DPS.

Daniele López Vásquez and Brian Guzmán of Del Valle, both from Texas, were arrested and charged with evading arrest, human trafficking, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and illegal carrying of a weapon.

Texas DPS spokesman Chris Olivarez told Fox News Digital that the teens likely had no idea they were transporting a murder suspect.

He explained that Teenage smugglers are recruited through TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram or other social media sites. They then use encrypted messaging applications, typically WhatsApp, to communicate anonymously with cartel members, receiving audio or text messages telling them where to pick up their human cargo.

“In most cases they evade law enforcement and engage in high-speed chases. Not only are they putting themselves and people in danger, but they are also putting innocent bystanders at risk. “We have had cases in which people are killed,” he told the outlet on Wednesday.

“They don’t think about the consequences, but about the emotion, about quick money. [Podrían estar traficando] someone wanted for murder, someone who is on a watch list. We often see these young men with guns. We believe they have them for their safety; They don’t know who they are smuggling,” she added.

Olivarez noted that cartels have long recruited teenagers for their drug and human trafficking operations because they are often not charged as adults.

“The cartels are very aware that there are fewer consequences, less prosecution when it comes to young people involved in human trafficking. If a minor is caught, for the most part, they are released to their parents or a family member. Then they do the same thing the next day,” she said.

In some cases, according to Olivarez, the minors are no more than 13 years old.

Also last week, DPS arrested a 14-year-old Mexican boy dressed in a gillie suit who had been guiding a group of migrants across the Rio Grande in McAllen. Agents intervened after the attempt was captured by a border security camera.

“Seeing a 14-year-old kid doing that, seeing them wearing a camouflage suit, shows how these cartels are using these young people,” Olivarez said.

The phenomenon of recruiting teenagers extends to other border states. Last month, a 16-year-old boy was arrested by the US Border Patrol for packing seven immigrants into his car in Why, Arizona, Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin wrote in a post on X.

Former DEA chief of operations Michael Braun told Fox News Digital that these teenagers “have no idea what they are getting into when they get involved with the cartels, and that there is simply no way out once they do their first smuggling.” .

“Anyone who believes otherwise simply does not understand how Mexican cartels operate. “They are the most powerful transnational drug trafficking and organized crime groups that authorities have ever dealt with,” he added.

Mexican cartels have used Americans to carry out their smuggling operations for years, but now they are looking for younger members, according to Braun.

“Cartels know that teenagers are attracted to money and a sense of adventure, and their recruitment is facilitated by social media, which gives cartel recruiters a practical level of anonymity,” he said.

Olivarez added that he had not seen a significant increase in the number of teenagers crossing the border with migrants, but that they have always been a significant portion of the smugglers.

In general, he said, young people earn between $2,000 and 3,000 dollars for each migrant they transport to the United States.

A new state law passed by the Texas state legislature increased the minimum sentence from two to 10 years for people caught smuggling migrants, according to The Texas Tribune.

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