Mexican cartel forces locals to pay for makeshift Wi-Fi under threat of death

By MEGAN JAENTSKY
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in central Mexico say a drug cartel set up its own makeshift internet antennas and told locals that they had to pay to use their Wi-Fi or they would be killed. The criminal group allegedly set up three internet antennas in various towns in the Mexican state of Michoacan, and charged approximately 5,000 people elevated prices between between $25 to $30 a month. That would mean the cartel would rake in around $150,000 a month. The state prosecutor’s office says the cartel warned that penalty for not paying for the internet was death.