Tiktok removes the hashtag used by cartel members as a border agent warns of threat
The famous social media platform Tiktok has removed a hashtag from its search engine after the cartel members have been captured using it to highlight their crimes and recruit human smugglers.
A spokesman for Tiktok told Fox News Digital that in addition to removing “#carteltok”, from his search engine, the platform also removed “known leaders of signs or bands” that violated the organization’s policy.
Many of the videos in question showed signs that flashed piles of money, jewels and luxury objects that were used to attracting teenagers to America and Mexico a smuggling illegal immigrants through the US border.
Videos showed that cartel members were not afraid Boasts their illegal operations, Often showing off their money on Tiktok and other apps, boasting the ease with which the authorities can evade.
“FarttoTok is Wilddd”, read a caption from a Tiktok video published on X.
“On Tiktok there is currently a trend called” MotorTetok “, in which Mexican signs take drugs that are then paid in cryptocurrency. It almost seems that the signs are hitting the Trump administration,” wrote another X user, sharing another video of signs at work from another social media site.
The smugglers not only took Tiktok aimed at their recruitment, but used other social media sites, including Snapchat and Instagram, among others. Then they use encrypted messaging apps, usually WhatsApp, to communicate anonymously with the members of the cartel, receive audio or text messages that instruct them where to collect their human useful loads, the spokesman for the Texas public security department, Chris Olivarez, told Fox News Digital.
The representatives of Snapchat, Tiktok and Meta, who own Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, told Fox News Digital who have policies in progress to repress these content and remove these content when they appear on their platforms.
In August, 22 people were offended in Arizona For alleged recruiting truck drivers who use setting stages of cash and glamorous illegal migrant smuggling. Many of the places have said that drivers can make heavy sums of money without the risk of being arrested.
In September, a man from Arizona was sentenced to 71 months in prison for the transport of hundreds of illegal immigrants and investigators found Snapchat seats in which he gave the cramming of people in overcrowded vehicles in unsafe conditions. He also used minors to facilitate some smuggling operations.
A sentence for having conspired to transport illegal aliens for profit entails a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $ 250,000, according to the office of the United States District Prosecutor in Arizona.
The signs are turning to social media to attract Americans in human smuggling.
The vice -president of the National Border Patrol Council Hector Garza told Fox News Digital that these videos on Tiktok and other social media stores are not new, but believes that the Trump administration is taking videos seriously and works actively to protect the border.
“Our intelligence community within the border patrol and other agencies have always monitored these types of activities on social media. We now know that in the Biden administration, we were monitoring many of the different caravan that were coming to the United States. Many promotions, marketing, marketing that were being done in Central America … AT.
A fixed image of a presumably advertising Tiktok video helps to illegally cross the United States from Canada. (@ Help Mesckenak31 / Tiktok)
“Now we have President Trump, who is quite clear that he is seriously intent on making America first, protecting our country, protecting our boundaries. So we are very confident that President Trump will actually have some eyes on this situation of Tiktok and will not allow these signs to continue passing their illegal activities on social media.”
Garza, who is an active border patrol agent with 25 years of service, said that listening that “Carteltok” has been removed was a positive move, he said that Tiktok and other social media sites can still do more to continue repressing these criminals and prevent them from publishing videos.
“We think their next step will be that they will continue to do what they do, unless there are some serious reforms for Tiktok and how they work in the United States,” said Garza.
“Carteltok is not the only channel out there that promoted it and spoke of all these cartel activities. There are numerous pages outside which we have been informed, anything, from the trafficking of minors to human smuggling and that promote only some other illegal activities that are carrying out on the border”, he continued.
Garza added that another problem is that there are copycats out there that want to imitate what these signs publish.
“The problem with these videos by Tiktok and some of these social media channels that promote human smuggling, the trafficking of minors and the trafficking of humans is that there are other copy that come out of this situation. And now we have the feeling that you involve yourself in illegal activities is something to be proud of being. And is sending the wrong message for our young people, our communities,” said Garza.
Thanks to the repression of the Trump administration border, Garza said that it is “clearly” that Trump and his team are keeping an eye on these social media sites.
“We believe that President Trump will bring some positive changes when it comes to Tiktok, in the event that an agreement is ever reached between Tiktok in the United States, but we know that these signs continue to date to use social media. You know that popularity is there,” Garza explained.
The Hector Garza border patrol agent said it is clear that the repression of the Trump administration border includes keep an eye on the social media site such as Tiktok. (Getty Images)
“And surely we hope that President Trump clarifies a lot to Tiktok that these types of channels must be removed so as not to promote illegal activities, in particular that we do not promote the activity of the sign, which are now terrorists.”
In February, the Trump administration designated several bands and signs, such as TDA, MS-13 and the Sinaloa sign, as foreign terrorist organizations (FTO).
The eight groups consist of TDA; Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13; the Sinaloa sign; New generation cartel of Jalisco; United signs; North -east sign; Gulf sign; And Nueva Familia Michoacana, or LNFM, many of which go under several different names.
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The move comes after Trump signed an executive agenda on his first day in office to direct the State Department and other executive agencies to move to designate signs and other criminal groups such as FTO.
The order stated that these groups “have an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security, foreign policy and the United States economy” and invokes the International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEP) to declare a national emergency to “face these threats”.
In the tax year 2023, the protection of customs and borders met 2,475,669 people who attempted to enter the entrance along the entrance South border -ovest -A record of all times that represents an increase of 4.07% compared to the previous year. However, it is not clear how many migrants or their smugglers have used social media to help them along the way.
Fox News Digital contacted the FBI and the National Security Department for a comment.
Michael Dorgan and Greg Wehner of Fox News Digital have contributed to this relationship.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. It covers topics including disappeared people, murders, cases of national crime, illegal immigration and more. Tips and ideas for history can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
