Cartels place bounties on U.S. immigration officers: DHS

Mexican cartels are behind at least some of the bounties placed for information or attacks on ICE and CBP personnel, Homeland Security said Tuesday, citing “credible intelligence.”

Those who provide information or photos can get a $2,000 payout, while kidnappings or assaults can earn between $5,000 and $10,000. Assassinations of high-ranking officials could land a $50,000 bounty, the department said.

Migrant-heavy criminal gangs run spotters tasked with keeping an eye on immigration officers in places like Chicago, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection are carrying out a surge in deportation arrests.

The department said the spotters have “enabled ambushes” of federal officers and fueled some of the disruptions that protesters have mounted.

“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,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Her department suggested the cartels and “domestic extremist groups” are operating “in coordination.”

The department asked the public to counter the spotters by reporting them to an ICE tip line.

Trump officials have long worried about cartels trying to target ICE officers.

That’s one reason officers wear masks as they enter communities to arrest deportation targets.

Anti-ICE activists have protested, accusing the agency of operating as a “secret police.” The agitators have responded with online tools to try to expose ICE officers’ identities and activities.

Homeland Security earlier this month convinced Apple to take down one of those apps, saying it put officers in danger.

The man who shot and killed two migrants in an attack on the ICE processing facility in Dallas last month had used an ICE tracking app.

Homeland Security last week revealed a bounty placed specifically on Gregory Bovino, a senior CBP official who oversaw the immigration enforcement surge in Los Angeles this summer and is now in Chicago for that city’s surge.

The department identified Juan Espinoza-Martines, a migrant member of the Latin Kings street gang, as one person sharing the bounty on Chief Bovino, which included a $10,000 reward to “take him down.”

Cartel spotters have long been a fixture of smuggling operations at the southern border, where people will be posted on hills on either side of the boundary to keep an eye on CBP operations.

That includes tracking Border Patrol agents’ movements to spot opportunities to sneak drugs through, as well as looking to see when lanes at the border crossings are getting less scrutiny.

The Washington Times visited border spotter camps in Arizona after they were abandoned and discovered the remnants of provisions that would allow people to remain in place for days.

Congressional Republicans have proposed legislation that would stiffen penalties for those who share information about law enforcement movements at the border.