(Chris Parker, Headline USA) Drug smugglers and human traffickers are using the popular social networking platform TikTok to brag about the millions of dollars they’re making through illegal smuggling.
The videos include counting large stacks of cash, evading law enforcement, testing fully automatic high-caliber guns, and cutting through the border fence, among other offenses, reported the Washington Examiner. The clips are often accompanied by cheerful music that usually encourage illegal behavior.
“Videos encouraging others to participate in human smuggling across the Southern border are highly concerning,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“With the issuance of Civil Investigative Demands, my office is currently combing through TikTok company policies and getting to the bottom of what is happening in these social media posts.”
Mexican cartels are also using social media platforms to recruit drivers to assist in their operations. Most of the recruits are teenagers under 18.
They are luring new recruits with promises of easy money. In fact, most cartels are offering drivers $1,000 per illegal immigrant, reported Fox Business. They only have to drive them from one point to another without getting caught. It has proven to be a very successful strategy for cartels, who typically coordinate pickups and drop-offs from a distance.
Cartels are also increasingly using Facebook, What’s App, and Twitter to communicate, recruit and boast about their exploits. In some videos, cartel workers don’t even try to hide their identities.
Illegal immigration has risen significantly since President Joe Biden took office. Border patrol agents stopped 234,088 illegal immigrants in April alone. That number doesn’t include the the volume of illegal migrants that have eluded overwhelmed border patrol agents.
Cartels have also become more creative in their methods of smuggling narcotics. This can be seen in one clip in which a driver caught by a sheriff’s deputy removes his steering wheel to reveal hidden paraphernalia. Meth and fentanyl have also been on the rise.
