Authorities in Culiacán, Mexico uncovered the huge ‘spy centre’ run by the powerful Sinaloa drugs cartel, which had screens allowing them to track the live movements of police
A deadly drugs cartel’s spy network has been exposed after police uncovered hidden cameras tracking their every move.
Federal authorities in Culiacán, Mexico were stunned this week to discover an undercover surveillance centre manned by members of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel. Alongside a cache of weapons, officers found five screens streaming live footage from cameras placed in strategic areas around the city, including main boulevards and key avenues. Each screen displayed as many as 30 live feeds. The centre also boasted advanced technology which allowed them to spy not only on rival gangs, but also on the movements of the authorities.
On his TV news programme Pie de Nota, Mexican journalist Luis Chaparro said local government sources believed the cartel had used this information to plan attacks and avoid arrests. He also reported that the cartel had established a direct connection to the state police’s command centre, meaning that they had access to the same images and transmissions collected by local government security systems. Mr Chaparro said: “It is not known whether the Sinaloa government was aware of this connection, but the truth is that the cameras installed by the government were also transmitting to ‘Los Chapitos’ C4 [command centre]”
The centre was uncovered on Tuesday by the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA). The raid followed reports of multiple shootings in different parts of Culiacán, drawing the attention of authorities to the area. Alongside the monitors, police also found an arsenal that included five long guns, four handguns, 18 magazines and a number of explosives.
Feliciano Castro Meléndrez, General Secretary for the state of Sinaloa, denied that the cartel had gained access to the local government’s command centre. He said: “This communications centre that was detected and secured belongs to organised crime, but the state C4 has no connection whatsoever with this clandestine system”.
The Sinaloa Cartel, or the Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS) in Spanish, is one of the most powerful organised crime groups in Mexico – and some commentators even believe it may be among the strongest in the world. Dozens of people died in violent clashes in Mexico’s northwest last year when clashes erupted between two rival factions of the cartel.
In recent years, fears have grown that increasingly sophisticated spy and surveillance technology is ending up in the hands of drugs cartels. One anonymous official speaking to the Cartel Project website described the situation as a “free-for-all” and alleged that corrupt police officers were selling on equipment to the violent gangs, saying: “The police who have the technology would just sell it to the cartels.”
