A Mexican businessman pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court Tuesday to selling spyware and hacking tools to Mexican governments, which used the equipment to intercept and monitor the communications of political rivals.
Carlos Guerrero, 48, who has lived in Chula Vista and Tijuana, admitted to brokering the sales of interception and surveillance tools to several clients, including the Mexican state governments of Baja and Durango, as well as private and commercial companies, according to Guerrero's plea agreement.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Guerrero knew some of his Mexican government clients intended to use the interception equipment for political purposes. On one such occasion, prosecutors say Guerrero arranged for an unidentified mayor in the Mexican state of Morelos to access a rival's Twitter, Hotmail and iCloud accounts.
Guerrero also used the equipment to monitor his own competitors, according to the plea agreement, which states that in 2015, he intercepted an unidentified business competitor's phone calls "to benefit Defendant's consortium."
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Guerrero and his company, Elite by Carga, earned commissions by arranging the sales of interception devices and hacking services, according to the plea agreement, which said Guerrero marketed signal jammers, Wi-Fi interception tools, IMSI catchers, and the ability to hack WhatsApp messages as part of the services available for his clients.
