A group known as the Cartel Project has released a report detailing the targeting of citizen journalists throughout Mexico who report on cartel dealings. Jorge Carrasco was targeted by software from the Israeli NSO Group called Pegasus, confirmed watchdog group Citizen Lab.
The watchdog group has found at least nine journalists in Mexico targeted with the Pegasus software. While it is doubtful NSO Group entertains cartels for business, the Mexican government is a known customer of various “lawful intercept” software businesses, including NSO Group. It is likely the software ends up in the hands of cartel operators through insiders working within the Mexican government.
It is not known whether the eight journalists killed during 2020 in Mexico were targeted with such spyware.