Latest news with #Sadulski
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Violent Venezuelan gang exploits technology to turbocharge its dominance: experts
The brutal Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which has rapidly grown in recent years and is wreaking havoc in communities nationwide, is using tech savvy to best its rivals and infiltrate American communities, experts say. "Part of their recruitment process is to get individuals with IT backgrounds so that not only are they maintaining a presence on social media to keep their ear to the ground, they're also getting and recruiting and exploiting individuals with IT backgrounds so that they can operate digitally more easily in their marketing and advertising of individuals in the sex trade [and] sex trafficking," said Ali Hopper, a researcher from the nonprofit GUARD Against Trafficking. Jarrod Sadulski founded GUARD Against Trafficking, and he and Hopper travel to prisons on the southwest border, in Mexico and Central America, where they interview imprisoned former gang and cartel members for research purposes. "They absorb people into the ranks, sometimes by force," Sadulski said. "For example, if they come across somebody in a Venezuelan community that they've embedded themselves in and that person has IT skills or some specific set of unique skills, they'll draw in that person, even if it's unwillingly, into their enterprise, into their gang, because of that special skill set that they have. So that speaks to their sophistication." Hopper said that much like organized cartels, TdA uses a specific cloud communication style as a way of avoiding digital surveillance while directing gang activities, unlike typical gangs. Doj Indicts Alleged High-ranking Tren De Aragua Member On Terrorism Charges For The First Time Read On The Fox News App Part of that style involves using unique imagery. Hopper said the gang sends images back and forth without text and communicates via symbols in the background of the images to avoid digital detection. Other gangs will simply use email, according to Sadulski and Hopper, exposing themselves to far more risk. TdA also has its own online language. "They like to resort to either communicating through a photo background … an item in the background or through emojis," Hopper said. "It's a whole other language where emojis mean different things. And so that doesn't really get flagged by a platform system because it's not being written. It is a language communicated through emojis or communicated through an actual image rather than the text below or the image." Another part of TdA's operational strategy that allows the organization to rapidly gain a foothold in American communities is a willingness to partner with local street gangs, a mutually beneficial arrangement that allows the local gangs to make more money on the backs of TdA. "They'll come into a large city, hide themselves within the Venezuelan population but then work with the local gangs in that area, whether it's Blood group, Crips or other gangs that [are] more specific to that community and basically align themselves to make profits through human trafficking, through drug trafficking, through murder-for-hire in conjunction with these other gangs versus warring with them," Sadulski said. In return, TdA uses these partnerships to closely study local police and criminal justice trends. "They align themselves with these gangs to understand the market in that area, the trade routes [and] who's who in that community," Hopper said. "So they align themselves with these gangs and work with them at lower levels to start to understand the lay of the land and the area in which they work." Texas Woman Robbed, Pistol-whipped In Ritzy Dallas Area By Illegal Venezuelan Migrants With Gang Ties: Report "On top of that, that allows them the time to study the politics in that area," he said. "They're actually studying the politics of the area. They study the political climate, they study law enforcement, their routes, where they're going, where they patrol, where they don't patrol [and] what crimes are being prosecuted, what crimes are seen as lower level and not worth prosecuting." Sadulski and Hopper noted that even with their sophistication, the gang is still ultraviolent and willing to impulsively commit heinous crimes without prior planning. One such crime recently occurred when 11 teen TdA members, including several minors, attacked New York City Police Department officers in Times Square. "It's horrific enough to be a victim of a crime," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said of the attack. "But when someone openly assaults a police officer, you are attacking our symbol of safety, and it cannot be tolerated. "People who prey on innocent people must be held accountable. They must be brought to justice."Original article source: Violent Venezuelan gang exploits technology to turbocharge its dominance: experts
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Yahoo
Wealthy suburb rocked by suspected cartel murder-for-hire shows drug lords' reach across US: expert
After a high-ranking cartel member accused of a murder-for-hire scheme in a wealthy United States suburb was extradited to the U.S. in late February to stand trial, experts on cartel operations warn that ordinary Americans could be caught in the crossfire of Mexican cartel feuds. According to the Department of Justice, Jose Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, known as "El Gato," was brought to the U.S. to face justice for his alleged orchestration of a murder that took place in May 2013 in Southlake, an affluent community outside Dallas, Texas. Villarreal Hernandez is a Mexican national and former leader of the Beltran-Leyva Organization (BLO) Drug Cartel, whose hired cartel goons allegedly stalked and murdered Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, an attorney and U.S. government informant who represented the rival Gulf Cartel, authorities said. Guerrero Chapa was gunned down in a daytime shooting in a busy Southlake shopping center while he and his wife were returning to their vehicle. Trump Admin Promises To Be 'Ruthlessly Aggressive' In Response To Cartel Killing Of Us Citizen The killing in an American community such as Southlake shows that ordinary Americans should be more vigilant, both in their daily lives and online, as cartel members are increasingly embedding themselves within communities across the U.S., experts say. Read On The Fox News App "The answer is yes, the cartels have definitely infiltrated into the United States," Jarrod Sadulski, owner of Sadulski Enterprises, told Fox News Digital. Sadulski worked at the Department of Homeland Security via the Coast Guard for 26 years, with extensive experience in human trafficking, counter-terrorism and homeland security. "So because of the open borders the last four years, there is an exponentially higher amount of criminal bad actors in the United States, to include cartel members," he said. "And so where people should always remain vigilant, now is the time for a heightened level of vigilance because of the people that have been brought into the United States." Mexico Extradites Dozens Of Cartel Leaders And Members To Us, Including Drug Lord Rafael Caro Quintero Ali Hopper works with Sadulski and is also the founder of a nonprofit called GUARD Against Trafficking. Both have testified before Congress regarding their research and expertise with Mexican drug cartels. Hopper said that younger, newer groups like Tren de Aragua and their members are far more violent than their cartel predecessors. "They operate with impunity," she said. "They don't have any regard for life, whether it's the life of an adult or a child. And they will deal in whatever makes the most money the fastest. And the new guard has virtually no structure. It's kind of like survival of the fittest." The pair also noted that cartel members are making more of an effort to blend in. Some have stopped getting identifying tattoos, which used to make them easy targets for law enforcement. Many have also started legitimate businesses in the U.S. to launder money through. Texas Official Issues Warning After Rancher Killed By Cartel Ied In Mexico: 'A Terrorist Attack,' Son Says Villarreal Hernandez blamed Guerrero Chapa for the death of his father, which was his motive for the alleged murder-for-hire plot, authorities said. After spending more than two years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List, Villarreal Hernandez was captured in 2023 by Mexican authorities in Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico. He is now in the U.S. to stand trial on charges of interstate stalking and murder-for-hire, both of which carry maximum sentences of life in prison or article source: Wealthy suburb rocked by suspected cartel murder-for-hire shows drug lords' reach across US: expert
