Cartels Go Digital: Cybercrime’s New Era

The cyber world has evolved, and criminal groups in Latin America have adapted their methods of operation to maximize their profits. The technological innovations brought by the Internet era have influenced diverse criminal economies, from drug trafficking to money laundering.

In Mexico, producers of synthetic drugs—such as fentanyl and methamphetamine—access highly regulated precursor chemicals and substances through vendors on the open web and the dark web, who guarantee successful shipments of the substances to almost anywhere in the world.

Similarly, cryptocurrencies are being widely used by Latin American criminal groups, such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), to launder money from drug trafficking. For their part, groups like the First Capital Command (PCC) have become increasingly linked to online scams and cybercrime.

Antonio Nicaso, a professor at Queen’s University in Canada and director of the Cybercrime Research Center at the Magna Grecia Foundation in Italy, talked about how organized crime has been transformed by technological advances in the digital era.

What have been the main changes that organized crime has faced in the Internet era?

Antonio Nicaso: The genome, the DNA of the mafias, is changing and adapting to a constantly evolving world. In recent years, numerous investigations have highlighted the significant shift in the social capital of the mafias, the network of external relationships that has always served as the backbone of mafioso power. Thus, alongside traditional figures, such as lawyers, accountants, and brokers, it can be said that new areas of expertise have emerged.

Our lives are now immersed in the digital dimension. We must not consider that mobsters are different from us. They do different things than we do, but they live like us in an interconnected world. But, having the money, they can hire, for example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) engineers and ask them to build an encrypted system to exchange messages and, at the same time, they can hire people and buy special computers to mine cryptocurrencies, invest in the so-called dark web, and launder money through cryptocurrencies. Their dimension is no longer analog; it is a combination of the analog and the virtual. That is why, when we think about a criminal organization today, we have to think with a new mindset. I believe this is an evolution that should not frighten us, but I do believe it is a dimension that we have to confront and we have to act very quickly, so we can no longer continue thinking that cybercrime and organized crime are two different entities.

How have Latin American criminal organizations adapted to the world of cybercrime?

Antonio Nicaso: In 2018, during an investigation carried out in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and Italy, a conversation was intercepted in which a Colombian intermediary was about to pay for a shipment of cocaine to Brazilian drug traffickers in bitcoins. But the deal fell through because at that moment the Brazilian drug traffickers linked to the PCC did not know how to handle this type of transaction. But surprisingly, a few years later, the same organization fully understood the importance and opportunities offered by cryptocurrencies. And today, there are several cases of individuals linked to the PCC involved in large investments in cryptocurrencies. The Comando Vermelho (CV) in Rio de Janeiro is also heavily involved in the Internet business.

How has the identity of criminal groups changed in the Internet era?

Antonio Nicaso: Historically, criminal organizations have always been great communicators. Now they communicate through a new system. Social networks, for example, are another way to control territory. It is an extension of the physical territory. It is a way to build a brand, to convince people that their philosophy is the winning one: “Look at me, I can afford all these things. If you want to be like me, join me.” It is also a way to build a new narrative. For example, the idea that the State is against them, that they have to fight against marginalization… all these are messages transmitted through the Internet to build a new sense of identity, a new sense of belonging.

What are the main security challenges in confronting this dynamic?

Antonio Nicaso: There is still a gap in law enforcement. For example, in Italy and in many other countries, they can only use hackers for cybersecurity, while in others they can use hackers to access communication systems used by criminals. We have to implement a new strategy, a global strategy to confront an organized crime that is increasingly hybrid, that works online and offline. We need to use artificial intelligence, we need to use algorithms to combat and challenge this, to confront this. So if we continue fighting criminal organizations with the traditional system we will get nowhere. We will remain one or two steps behind.