Sometimes the surveillance state gets turned against itself. That seems to be what resulted in the unfortunate demise of a number of FBI informants, who were tracked by a hacker working for the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Justice Department.

The stunning new details offer a rare look at how technology can be exploited in the high-stakes battle between US law enforcement and the violent Mexican cartels that control illicit drug trade.

In 2018, a hacker hired by the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel run by the infamous kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán spied on the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City with the goal of identifying “people of interest” for the cartel to target and kill,