Mexican cartels flaunting their illegal activities on TikTok hit a roadblock as the online video platform removed their hashtags from its search engine.
TikTok users can no longer search for “#CartelTok” or “known leaders of cartels or gangs” on the platform, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The move comes after cartel members were seen in videos blatantly showing off their crimes and recruiting human smugglers.
“Many of the videos in question showed cartels flashing piles of money, jewelry, and luxury items that were used to entice teens in America and Mexico to smuggle illegal immigrants across the U.S. border,” Fox News reported. “The smugglers not only targeted TikTok for their recruitment, they used other social media sites, including Snapchat and Instagram, among others.”
While the platforms say they have policies in place to remove the content, and TikTok has taken the step to thwart searches, a Border Patrol official warned that more needs to be done.
(Video Credit: Fox News Digital)
“We think that their next step is going to be that they’re going to continue doing what they do, unless there are some serious reforms to TikTok and how they operate within the United States,” National Border Patrol Council Vice President Hector Garza told Fox News Digital in reaction to news of TikTok’s move.
“CartelTok is not the only channel out there that has promoted it and has talked about all of these cartel activities. There’s numerous pages out there that we have been made aware of, anything from child trafficking to human smuggling and just them promoting some other illegal activities that they’re doing on the border,” he added.
On TikTok there’s currently a trend called ‘carteltok’, where Mexican cartels hire drug mules who are then paid in crypto.
It almost seems as if the cartels are striking back at the Trump administration. pic.twitter.com/Q728I8ZLaq
— Pekka Kallioniemi (@P_Kallioniemi) January 31, 2025
“The problem with these TikTok videos and some of these social media channels that promote human smuggling, child trafficking, and human trafficking is that there are other copycats coming out of this situation. And now we have a sense that involving yourself in illegal activity is something to be proud of. And it’s sending the wrong message to our youth, our communities,” Garza said.
He noted that the Border Patrol and other agencies have tracked these types of activities on social media, but the “problem back then is that we did not have a president that wanted to do something about it.”
“Now we have President Trump, who is pretty clear that he’s serious about making America First, protecting our country, protecting our borders. So we are very confident that President Trump will actually have some eyes on this TikTok situation and not going to be allowing these cartels to continue to peddle their illegal activities on social media,” Garza said.
Carteltok is WILDDD pic.twitter.com/UkyWUeqhsh
— Bailey Smith (@baile045) February 2, 2025
“We do feel that President Trump will make some positive changes when it comes to TikTok, in case a deal is ever reached between TikTok in the United States, but we do know that these cartels continue to this day to use social media. You know that the popularity is there,” the Border Patrol agent contended.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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