Mexican cartels have reportedly placed bounties on United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Chicago, offering to pay up to $50,000 for the assassination of high-ranking officials.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in a Tuesday statement that it had obtained “credible intelligence” that Mexican criminal networks are working with domestic extremist groups to coordinate a “tiered” bounty system.
Mexican cartels are working with street gangs in Chicago and groups like Antifa “to monitor, harass, and assassinate federal agents,” according to the DHS. The federal agency alleged that cartels “have disseminated a structured bounty program to incentivize violence against federal personnel,” offering different sums of money depending on the actions taken.
According to information gathered from an ongoing investigation, cartels are allegedly offering $2,000 for intelligence gathering or doxxing agents, which includes photos and information about their families.
Cartels are willing to pay $5,000 to $10,000 for kidnapping or non-lethal assaults on standard ICE and CBP officers and up to $50,000 for the assassination of high-ranking officials, according to the DHS.
Gang members affiliated with groups like the Latin Kings have deployed “spotters” to track the movements of ICE and CBP officers to enable ambushes or to help disrupt immigration raids, the DHS stated, adding that spotters station themselves on rooftops equipped with firearms and radio communications.
The federal agency also claimed that Antifa groups in Portland and Chicago have interfered with the deportation of “cartel-linked individuals,” in addition to doxxing agents and supplying pre-staged protest supplies.
“These criminal networks are not just resisting the rule of law, they are waging an organized campaign of terror against the brave men and women who protect our borders and communities,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated.
“Our agents are facing ambushes, drone surveillance, and death threats, all because they dare to enforce the laws passed by Congress,” Noem added. “We will not back down from these threats, and every criminal, terrorist, and illegal alien will face American justice.”
On Oct. 6, the agency announced the arrest of Juan Espinoza Martinez, a criminal illegal alien and Latin Kings gang member accused of placing a bounty on the Commander at Large of the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.
The arrest happened after a confidential source provided information on Oct. 3 about a “hit” that a member of the Latin Kings Street Gang had placed on Bovino, according to the DHS statement from earlier this month.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations identified Martinez as the individual who placed the hit before arresting the gang member on Oct. 6 in Burr Ridge, Illinois.
The DHS also shared a screenshot of a Snapchat conversation that HSI Chicago received of a user named “Juan” offering $2,000 for information, “cuando lo agarren,” which translates to “when they catch him.” The message, which Martinez is suspected of sending, included a photo of Bovino.
In addition to the first message, Martinez is accused of sending another one that promised a $10,000 reward “if you take him down” before sending a third message that allegedly indicated the Latin Kings’ involvement, stating, “LK….on him.”
“Depraved individuals like Juan Espinoza Martinez — who do not value human life and threaten law enforcement — do NOT belong in this country. We will not allow criminal gangs to put hits on U.S. government officials and our law enforcement officers,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.
“Thanks to ICE and our federal law enforcement partners, this thug is off our streets and behind bars,” McLaughlin added. “These attacks on our brave law enforcement officers must END. Secretary Noem has been crystal clear: If you threaten or lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Martinez was charged with one count of murder-for-hire for soliciting the murder of a senior law enforcement official, according to an unsealed complaint cited by the DOJ.
The complaint, unsealed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, labels Martinez a “ranking member of the Latin Kings.” The Chicago-based street gang’s criminal activities include “narcotics trafficking, extortion, murder, assault, firearms trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, money laundering, racketeering, and intimidation.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
