Thursday, November 3, 2011

Drug Cartels vs. Internet Hackers…

This one is more than a bit bizarre. Let’s see if I can give the story justice. The Zetas- one of Mexico’s most feared drug cartels has been challenged by Anonymous-a mysterious online hacker group. Anonymous claims that the Zetas in Veracruz kidnapped one of their members and is threatening to release the names of anyone connected with the Zetas if they don’t release him or her. This includes police officers, officials, and journalists, who will most assuredly be killed if outed.

 This illustrates just how high tech the drug wars in Mexico have become. Internet resources like Twitter and YouTube are now battlegrounds in the cyber drug war.

I never thought I’d be advising a drug cartel, but the Zetas obtain their power by being feared. Their brutal exploits have been on international pages of newspapers over the last few months. If they don’t free the hostage--if they exist, they may erode any support they have within the region. Who’s going to support someone, if that support leads to their murder/dismemberment?

 But if you do free them, you’ve in effect given your enemies the blueprint to extract concessions from you, and trust me the Zetas have them giving the lucrative nature of the Mexican drug trade. This will be interesting to say the very least.

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