Mexican authorities on Monday announced the launch of an investigation against Tomas Zeron, the former head of the criminal investigation agency, for the 2014 hiring and acquisition of the Pegasus malware, which according to press freedom organizations was used to spy on journalists and human beings. Has been used. Rights activist.
The Attorney General of the Republic said in a statement that the process involved Tomas “Z”, Judith Aracelli “G”, former senior official, Vidal “D”, former chief of the now-defunct Federal Police, and Rigoberto “G”. Former director of information on criminal activity from the National Center for Planning, Analysis and Information to Combat Crime, who will be investigated in 2014 for recruiting an espionage program for the then-Attorney General’s office.
A federal agent, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to comment, confirmed to The Associated Press that among those being investigated was Zeron, who fled to Israel and was involved in the disappearance of 43 student teachers in southern Israel. Arrest warrants are pending for. mexico 8 years ago
The four former officials were charged with offenses of embezzlement, outright cheating, improper use of powers and faculties and criminal association.
In the statement, the attorney general’s office indicated that the contract reached 460 million pesos (about $32 million), while dismissing that the current administration has Pegasus, an Israeli-made system used to collect data. Secretly infiltrates telephones and other equipment. Spy.
The investigation was announced nearly a month after a complaint by groups defending press freedom accused the Mexican military of using spyware to intercept activists’ phones in 2022.
According to a report by the press freedom group Article 19, Red de Defensa de los Derechos Digitales and the Mexican media, at least three human rights activists and two journalists were illegally spied on with Pegasus, possibly by the military, that it was the only Government organization that will have the spyware.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied that the military conducts wiretapping on activists, and assured that intelligence activities are limited to investigations of organized crime.
Upon taking office in 2018, López Obrador promised to end government spying, which he himself said he had been a victim of for decades when he was in opposition.
In 2021, Mexican authorities announced that they had discovered 31 contracts involving Pegasus signed by various security departments during the governments of former presidents Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) and Felipe Calderón (2006–2012), worth approximately was 61 million dollars.
