Leader of hacker cartel was earning over 50-100 M pesos per month.

Elements of the Criminal Investigation Agency, of the Attorney General's Office, captured in León, Guanajuato, Héctor Ortiz Solares, El H-1, El Patrón or El Bandido Boss, identified as the alleged leader of the criminal organization called Bandidos Revolutions Team, a group made up of hackers that infected the SPEI system of banks with malware (virus) to extract money and deposit it to third parties.

Officials of the federal government clarified that this criminal organization is not related to last year's attacks on the SPEI system, but that their way of operating was different and they had been operating for five years.

The criminal group had 27 luxury cars of various brands, including Ferrari, Mercedes Benz, Audi, McLaren and Lamborghini, which have an approximate value of between 14 and 16 million pesos.

They revealed that the capture and seizures were achieved after executing several search warrants simultaneously, granted by a control judge, which allowed the capture of five more people.

They indicated that this criminal group is considered an independent "cartel" formed by hackers.

Officials assured that Ortiz Solares was a logistic operator and head of the cartel, in addition to having a service of eight bodyguards , who received an approximate salary of 100 thousand pesos.

According to the investigations, his monthly earnings, which he obtained from his criminal activity, were between 50 to 100 million pesos(2.6 to 5.2Million USD). It is known that he intended to buy a soccer team of the third division of Mexico with the resources obtained illegally.

THE INVESTIGATION

They explained that the capture of the suspects was derived after the follow-up of an investigation by the federal agents, initiated by a complaint by the BBVA Bancomer bank for the crime of electronic fraud.

In a follow-up to the investigation, the leader and the members of this criminal organization were identified. The agents investigated the movements of the criminal group in exclusive subdivisions through coverages where drones were used to locate the residences in which this group operated.

The modus operandi of those now detained consisted of recruiting people who had computer skills to create malware that allowed them to extract resources from banking institutions through the SPEI system, which they did through deposits in third party accounts, which led to making withdrawals in exchange for the payment of a commission.

In addition, these individuals sought the vulnerability of banking systems to select ATMs, from which they managed to extract from 100 to 200 million pesos in a single event; the machines were infected with a virus that allowed them to withdraw from 30 thousand to 60 thousand pesos per ATM at a given day and time.

Another way to obtain resources was through the cloning of bank cards, as well as the realization of fraud with supermarket cards with which they bought appliances and alcoholic beverages to later be sold at half price and thereby acquire real estate, luxury vehicles and specialized technical team to violate computer systems.

After the capture of these people, and as a result of this police investigation, 27 luxury cars of various brands were seized, which were kept in storage to maintain them in mint condition.

Also confiscated were two ATVs, four motorcycles, two firearms, nine plastic boxes with cash with an amount close to 20 million 442 thousand 239 pesos in national currency, doses of drugs yet to be counted with the characteristics of marijuana, cocaine and crystal, 15 computers, 29 cell phones, four USB storage devices and hard drives.

Also a uniform with the characteristics of the Federal Police was found as well as diverse documents and a portfolio.

EVEN WAREHOUSES WITH CUSTODIANS

Some of the properties seized from the hackers were equipped as offices, points of operation, warehouses where the vehicles were protected and also an address that served as an entertainment center. The organization had the support of a private security company that guarded the warehouses, which also stored weapons, drugs, money and computer equipment. This company recruited retired military officers trained in the handling of firearms.

Sol Prendido Borderland Beat from Milenio