"Twitteros", Mexico's Latest Outlaws

Yes in Mexico that's what there called "Twitteros" people who use social networking sites life Twitter and Facebook for illegal activities. It is feared in Mexico that drug cartels are using social networking sites to aid their operations.


Found on CBS news.

That's right. Twitter users are fast becoming public enemy No. 1, at least in Mexico City, where they have angered authorities by warning one another of roadside "alcoholimetro" - or Breathalyzer - checkpoints set up by the police.

"It's a way for drug cartels to locate targets," said Ghaleb Krame, a security expert at Alliant International University in Mexico City.

"Facebook and Twitter have lots of weaknesses," he said. "For instance, criminals can find out who are the family members of someone who has a high rank in the police. Perhaps they don't have an account on Twitter or Facebook, but their children and close family probably do."

Indeed, a recent string of killings suggest drug cartels are more web-savvy than the police. In December, a marine was killed during an operation to capture one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, Arturo Beltran Leyva, who also died in the shootout. Less than a week later, gunmen attacked the marine's home, killing his mother and three relatives.

"How did they know where his parents lived?" Krame asked, suggesting that the cartel could have used websites like Facebook to track down the family. "Drug traffickers have an intelligence network and, as far as I know, at this moment in time it's more effective than ours."

While he seconds Rep. Norberto's call for police to mine Twitter and Facebook for data, Krame said any attempt to restrict social networking websites would be a mistake.

With the rise and popularity of social networks criminals seem to be taking to it faster that police forces. Which brings out the need for forces to get more acquainted with what's happening around them in virtual social worlds. It could also be a boon to police forces as social networks actually makes their jobs easier with a little bit of expert snooping cops around the world are finding that social networks are allowing criminals to fall into their hands with such easy they do not have to leave the comfort of their chair in front of their PC's to do their investigating.

An original post by

Sociolatte