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Comment by kevin_b_er | Hacker News Reader

Poor IT guy will probably be executed too. The reach of the crime syndicates pretty pervasive, even throughout the US. He'll likely never know any peace, even if he hadn't had a total mental breakdown.

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Won't they have witness protection though?

Good luck hiding from the most profitable black market corporation in the history of civilization.

Oh wow! I envy your ignorance.

Mexican cartels are some of the worst organizations in the world. They don’t want to kill you, they want to make you suffer. They will kill his family, the family of his family, and maybe the whole neighborhood just to make him go crazy, and then —right at the end— they will kill him.

If the IT guy was smart enough to hide all his family’s information, then maybe they are safe, but he is still in danger because the mafia will bride someone from the protection program to kill him, and I don’t mean “bride” with money, no, I mean bride them with their own life, because if the person from the protection program doesn’t gives them access to the IT guy, they will kill their family too.

I am exaggerating a little bit, maybe I shouldn’t even write this considering that I’m spreading the fear, and that’s probably what they want —same as other organizations like ISIS— but I have seen so much pain and tears over the years, that I genuinely don’t believe the IT guy will be in peace.

It's been getting worse down there too. A buddy of mine works on the cell networks and hes been telling me that bodies are starting to be strung up on bridges even in tourist areas when people don't pay up or snitch. I'd go into more detail but at some point it's just gore.

For clarification, by "down there" are you referring to Mexico, or the US states along the border?

If you mean Mexico itself, bodies being strung up on bridges in tourist areas is NOT a new phenomenon. Just dig through some of BestGore's archives from 2011-2014 if you have the stomach for it.

Exactly. Common methods of execution are putting a tire around your arms and chest and setting you on fire, and cooking you alive in a giant microwave. Just hearing about this stuff is enough to give you nightmares, and that's the whole point. There was an episode of The Americans where someone was killed with the tire method and even on TV it made me sick to my stomach and left me feeling disturbed for several hours.

As an aside... I feel pretty done with that kind of TV and movies. That shit is disturbing and I do not find it entertaining. The real world is messy and sad in a lot of ways, and I kind of want my entertainment to be a window into a nicer, neater world where the good guys are good, and vanquish the bad guys.

I never understood the appeal of violence in tv. Even some scenes in GOT I had very hard time watching.

I agree, it's only appealing to our basest urges. Most of us don't get much violence in our normal lives so it's removed from the mundane and therefore somewhat interesting. It's amazing how much violence we witness on TV/movies when there is really so little in our actual lives.

I get bored with the "neater world where the good guys are good, and vanquish the bad guys" stories, but there are still lots of interesting stories out there.

I don't even watch the nightly news for the same reason, it's all rapes and stabbings which I could have done nothing to prevent. I am constantly thinking to myself, "why do I need to hear this?"

I don't think it's that easy to find someone in witness protection, unless there are some other sloppy programs in the US, you, sir, are incorrect.

"More than 18,400 men, women and children have participated in it, and not one of the 8,500 witnesses or the 9,900 family members has been harmed" [1]

Now his family idk, good luck to them.

1. https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/16/justice/witness-protection-pr...

It seems like that statistic will be harder to keep as technology becomes more pervasive in our lives.

That's North Korea's method too. If one person escapes, 3 generations of relatives go to prison camp. It's tough to take on that responsibility when you flee.

Do you have a source? I don't think FBI's witness protection program has ever been penetrated.

People who change their identity in order to disappear are ultimately found because they're sloppy. They miss their old life; they expose themselves make contact with friends and family. In some cases, they brag about their true identity while drunk. Henry Hill [1], of "Goodfellas" fame, managed to do it twice.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hill

i’d be very interested in seeing an example of this or anything like it taking place in the US witness protection program.

You have been watching too many movies.

It is perfectly possible for people to change their names, and move to a different part of the country, or whatever.

The drug cartels do not have facial recognition cameras on ever street corner. They do not track people, with secret spy software, across continents.

Thats ridiculous.

Yeah, he is done... a pawn in the big game. poor mofo.

the reach of those guys is scary. HE could relocate to the middle of nowhere but i can't imagine a life of looking over your shoulder.

snitches end up in ditches

Snitches get stitches

>Poor IT guy

I don't know how he got there, but I'm guessing this person isnt the highest moral figure.

I don't know, I've heard stories about Russian hackers being tortured to coerce them into working for organized crime. They may have made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

That is a valid defense.

But he had plenty of opportunities of doing something about it.

Really? I mean, how would you do something about it if it meant your whole family would be tortured to death? Set on fire? These guys have horrifically cruel methods of execution. And despite all that he did go undercover. Balls of steel if you ask me.

The IT guy did it for the money:

> Not long after his 21st birthday, Christian Rodriguez got the contract of a lifetime for his new info-tech company: The Colombian was hired as a cybersecurity consultant by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo. While Mr. Rodriguez had little experience or formal education, he had been recommended by one of his other clients: Jorge Cifuentes Villa, a veteran trafficker who worked with Mr. Guzmán making cocaine deals with left-wing guerrillas in Colombia.

And from another article that I found:

> The government allowed him to keep the half-million he’d earned working for Guzman, and in addition paid him $480,000 for his expenses and technology services – which he later neglected to pay taxes on. Ref: https://www.courthousenews.com/sinaloa-cartels-it-guy-testif...

Ah, should have RTFA

That doesn't mean we can't be compassionate and empathize with his current predicament. Regardless of his moral character, he did a good thing and has exposed himself to a great potential of suffering for it.

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