Exclusive: Inside the Cell Phone of a Cartel Plaza Boss
A Mexican intelligence operation reveals the painful details of how mobsters operate
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A message zaps into the WhatApp in-box asking for more “soda,” meaning cocaine, and “duro,” meaning crystal meth, to stock up a selling point. Another hits with a report of thieves (or “rats”) in the local market that need to be dealt with, followed by photos.
An audio comes in complaining that a brother-in-law has been beaten up. A video arrives of guns bathed in gold and jewelry along with a message taking an order to decorate more weapons. Then a document thumps in of a witness statement given to police about a murder
Being in charge of a drug-cartel territory, or plaza, is not the work of a simple thug, but is a complex managerial operation. The plaza boss has to deal with dozens of employees, suppliers and sellers, look-outs and hit men. They have to police the territory for enemies and “anti-social” criminals, and put out propaganda. And they have to make sure the right law-enforcement officers are working with them to keep it ticking over.
It would be hard to do without a cell phone to coordinate payments, issue orders, and circulate photos of targets. But the technology that allows cartel bosses to run their business also provides a record of their crimes.
Mexican agents in federal intelligence operations have made various breakdowns of the contents of captured cell phones of cartel operatives. CrashOut had access to the analysis of a cell phone from an arrested plaza boss of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Guanajuato, one of the most murderous states in Mexico. With over 16,000 messages, of which over 1,000 offer useful information, and thousands of documents, it tells a detailed story of how a plaza is run.
The boss, who ruled over two municipalities for the cartel, had over 50 direct employees, even sharing lists of their nicknames along with their salaries. He had details of payments and tallies of accounts that show the cartel’s economics. And he had a WhatsApp group for intelligence on his turf provided by look outs and police officers on the cartel payroll.
The last detail is key to explaining why cartels operate so extensively and why a plaza boss would record it so blatantly - they are under the protection of corrupt law enforcement. And they are often only caught because police or troops working for a rival cartel nab them, as appeared to happen in this case.
Messages from the cell phone indicate payments to security agencies including…
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