Schneier on Security

65535 • January 16, 2019 4:32 PM

@ An

“…I get the feeling there’s a lot more to this story than we’ve been told?”-An

I agree.

In Chirs’ post on the Friday squid thread includes an NTY paragraph indicated his main IT felt that his life was in danger and naturally would seek protection from the DEA or FBI.

“…All this came crashing down in 2012 when Mr. [Cristian or Christian] Rodriguez intercepted a phone call between two of Jorge Cifuentes’s siblings in which he heard them saying they had figured out that El Chapo’s tech guy was working with the Americans. After fleeing to the United States, Mr. Rodriguez said he had a “nervous breakdown” within a year… Mr. Rodriguez said he decided to put some “distance” between himself and Mr. Guzmán’s organization, training other technicians to run the cartel’s day-to-day communications. Shortly after, he recounted, the F.B.I. launched a covert operation to secure his cooperation.”- NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html

I don’t know the exact time frame when when Mr. Rodriguez because he was monitoring conversations for a long time. Further, Rodriguez hire a second “IT guy” handle day to day operations of said Viop system. And the FlexiSPY implant seemed to play a role but how much a role.

Then there is a confusing note:

‘Mr. Rodriguez had little experience or formal education, he had been recommended by one of his other clients: Jorge Cifuentes Villa, a veteran trafficker who worked with Mr. Guzmán making cocaine deals with left-wing guerrillas in Colombia. — [and]…Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel in September 2010, forcing cartel leaders to temporarily rely on conventional cell phones. Cifuentes told the court he considered Rodriguez “an irresponsible person” who had compromised their security, with a terse phone call played by prosecutors showing Cifuentes warned the subordinate he was in “charge of the system always working.”’

https://gizmodo.com/the-feds-cracked-el-chapos-encrypted-communications-net-1831595734

If Rodriguez was monitoring all calls then he would drug distributor Cifuentes had told his cartel leader he was irresponsible or worse. Thus, Rodriquez would feel threateded.

The time frame is unclear reguarding when Rodriquez felt his life was in danger.
Odd, “El Chapo” son and trusted lieutenant was arrested in either 2010 to 2012 and turned over on his father for not being promoted to the head of drug cartel – posslby bribed by the DEA.

“At El Chapo’s Trial, a Son Betrays His Father, and the Cartel… the cartel prince betrayed his father — and his birthright — testifying for more than five hours about nearly every aspect of the drug-trafficking empire: smuggling routes, money-laundering schemes, bloody wars, personal vendettas and multimillion dollars in bribes. When it came to the enterprise he seemed poised to lead one day, Mr. Zambada proved he knew almost everyone and everything… before his trial began, his lawyers dropped a bombshell: They claimed that for years he had been working secretly as a spy for the D.E.A., swapping information about his rivals in exchange for the ability to run his business freely.”-NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer

At sometime around 2012 or before he rolled over on his father El Chapo

“…they flipped Rodriguez, having him transfer servers from Canada to the Netherlands in a move masked as an upgrade. During that process, Rodriguez slipped investigators the network’s encryption keys.”-Gizmodo

https://gizmodo.com/the-feds-cracked-el-chapos-encrypted-communications-net-1831595734

Why did Rodriquez flip over – felt in danger of his life or money from the DEA. What exactly was the time frame?

Why did El Chapo’s son flip on him – felt in danger of his life or money or power?

What about the interview in Rolling stone with Hollywood movie stars visited El Chapo? Would not they be carring trace able cell phones or possibly a gps unit in their gear?

Multiple arrest of El Chapo and better timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_%22El_Chapo%22_Guzm%C3%A1n

Manhunt for El Chapo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunt_of_Joaqu%C3%ADn_%22El_Chapo%22_Guzm%C3%A1n_(2001%E2%80%932016)

All of the above is very interesting and very confusing

Cristian Rodrequez proper name.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-el-chapo/prosecutors-in-el-chapo-trial-play-calls-intercepted-by-fbi-idUSKCN1P2214

65535 • January 16, 2019 11:45 PM

A different picture is beginning to emerge and it looks like a tug of war between who was paying off who. In fact, if EL Chapo’s son is telling the truth it is dirty picture.

El Chapo Son’s lawyer[s]:

“In essence,” his lawyers wrote in a 2011 pretrial motion, “the United States government entered into a conspiracy with one of the largest drug cartels in the world.”-NYY

Other odd points:

“…federal agents plucked him [El Chapo’s son] from his jail cell in Chicago late one night in 2012. From there, he said, he was taken to an office and handed a phone. His father was on the line…elder Mr. Zambada was a wanted man, an international criminal with a million-dollar bounty on his head. The agents asked the son to urge the father to surrender. Mr. Zambada said he did… Though there was no surrender, the two men spoke for several minutes, discussing their mood, health and legal situations…”-NYT

El Chapo’s IT guy went back to selling drugs for 10 years:

“Mr. Ramírez, suffering no harm, went back to selling drugs for an additional 10 years.”-NYT

Odd bit of surpression of testimony:

Federal prosecutors denied there was any conspiracy and in the end, a judge did not allow Mr. Zambada to defend himself by arguing one existed. He pleaded guilty in 2013 and agreed to cooperate…In a ruling this week, the judge forbade any mention of a possible quid pro quo agreement between Mr. Zambada and the government from the trial, saying it would “create a sideshow” that risked “confusing the issues” and “misleading the jury.”-NYT

If it is true the both El Chapo’s son and his IT guy continued to sell narcotics for a decade one begins to wonder why and how much momey was made, say in the billions of dollars, and who got the cash. If some of that money stuck to the hands of the DEA and US agents things would look a bit different. Why not let El Chapo’s son tell the full story?

This whole thing of letting a drug gang sell drugs for ten years and then shuting it down smells a bit fishy. Billions of dollars changed hands but who got the money? DEA agents, the drug Cartel or both?

See: El Chapo Trial: How a Cartel Prince Left the Drug Trade
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/nyregion/el-chapo-trial.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer