(NewsNation) — Cartels have been using social media for years — but human smugglers are getting savvier, using production techniques to create slick videos and content on TikTok and YouTube.
Videos on social media feature similar themes: smiling migrants making it to a prosperous new life in America with heavy editing, making the illegal path to get in look more like an adventurous vacation.
One of the TikTok accounts posting content like this has already been taken down by the platform — but according to one cartel expert, new ones are popping up all the time. Smugglers have learned what wording to use that won’t get their videos flagged by social media — or targeted by law enforcement.
Some of these videos have racked up millions of views, luring migrants to what’s advertised as an exciting new path to a new life.
“They make it sound like ‘Oh, come on this journey and we’re gonna get you to the United States from whatever country you’re in,'” Robert Almonte, a former U.S. Marshal from Texas, said. “But they don’t mention all of the risks that they’re taking.”
As NewsNation has previously reported, migrants face a long, dangerous journey to the United States that can take weeks or months in sometimes hazardous weather. Some are robbed or even kidnapped and held for ransom.
“They think they’re coming over here to live the American Dream and unfortunately for many of them, it turns into a living nightmare — or sometimes it ends their life,” Almonte said.
According to Almonte, cartels prefer smuggling humans over drugs, since migrants are paying upfront to be transported. Drug payouts, on the other hand, aren’t made until contraband is delivered.
It’s estimated the cartels are making over $13 billion a year just on human smuggling.
Both TikTok and YouTube responded to NewsNation with requests for the suspected smugglers’ videos and accounts, showing this is a problem that they are working to combat.