The assassination of high-ranking U.S. officials could see payments of up to $50,000, the DHS said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Oct. 14 that it has obtained “credible intelligence” that cartels in Mexico have placed bounties on U.S. law enforcement officers and officials.
Mexican cartels—which have used Chicago, along with other major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta, as drug distribution hubs for years—are now being confronted with targeted law enforcement operations and have put out calls to sympathetic domestic groups for acts of violence and intimidation against authorities in the United States, the DHS said.
“These criminal networks have issued explicit instructions to U.S.-based sympathetics, including street gangs in Chicago, to monitor, harass, and assassinate federal agents,” the department said.
The department noted several federal investigations, which are still active, that have uncovered intelligence showing the cartels have advertised a tiered bounty system of renumeration for various actions escalating in violence and ambition.
Intelligence gathering or doxxing of federal agents, including taking photos and gathering information about their families, could receive a payout of $2,000, and kidnapping or non-lethal assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents could see up to $10,000 payment. The assassination of high-ranking U.S. officials could see payments of up to $50,000, the DHS said.
The investigations also uncovered that criminal groups, including members of Chicago’s street gangs with ties to the Latin Kings, have developed networks of armed rooftop “spotters” who track ICE and CBP officers and communicate their coordinates.
“This surveillance has enabled ambushes and disruptions during routine enforcement actions, including recent raids under Operation Midway Blitz,” the DHS said.
Led by ICE, “Operation Midway Blitz” was launched in early September 2025 in Chicago and the surrounding areas under the ICE Chicago field office, including Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas, to remove illegal immigrants and enforce immigration law.
The intelligence comes as federal and state authorities are at loggerheads over how to approach law enforcement in the state.
By Melanie Sun
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