AI in crime: Mexican cartels deploy AI to slip past security checkpoints

Mexican drug cartels have turned to artificial intelligence to escape security checks and ensure successful drug trafficking operations.

According to a local news source on 29 September, drug traffickers use “smart routing” — a strategy that directs orders to the most suitable location using real-time data — to successfully avoid security checks and smuggle people.

The report says the cartels also use social media and cyber security tools to further enhance their operations, and have been recruiting tech experts and young people in their teams.

Making organized crime more sophisticated

The information released is part of findings of a European-funded study in a bid to fight organized crime.

By using the technology, cartels can also predict how long it will take them to conduct an operation. Some prominent cartels like the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are even said to use facial recognition for blackmail. 

They can imitate a voice or create deepfakes to elicit emotions which they use to blackmail victims and extort money from them.

Last year, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) uncovered a link between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and a global financial fraud scheme where advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and large language models were used.

The Mexican military has also discovered that cybercriminals linked to CJNG have attempted to infiltrate the networks of security agencies in the country using these technologies.

With these technologies at their disposal, tracking and hindering cartel activities has become more sophisticated, making it necessary for security agencies to step up.

Bad use of AI

AI, like any other technology is neither good nor bad, but its use can be abused to cause harm. The effort of cartels to use it in enhancing their operations is one of the known negative uses, but there’s more.

A 15-year old couple recently got divorced, thanks to advice received from ChatGPT by the wife. She had turned to the technology for advice on her relationship with her husband, and ChatGPT advised her to get a divorce.