Cartel drones at US border

Drone use in recent conflicts, especially the war in UKRAINE, have opened a new Pandora’s box. The low-cost, remotely guided flying contraptions can drop explosives from above or literally fly into and blow up an enemy combatant’s dug out.

There is now a very real concern that Foreign Terrorist Organizations such as the MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS might be preparing to use drone to strike at personnel on the southern border. In Mexico, the cartels have used drones to drop grenades on rivals, and to attack MEXICAN NATIONAL GUARD troops. The cartels have already used drones to drop drugs in US neighborhoods just across the border in Texas and Arizona, and to track US border and military personnel on patrol along the southern border.

Several members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the Trump administration last month expressing concerns about cartel drones and demanding to know what’s the plan to counter the threat. Arizona state lawmakers also filed a bill a month ago that would allow law enforcement officers to shoot down drones within 15 miles of the Mexican border if they suspect they are being used for criminal activity.

The temptation to escalate the use of drones from surveillance and low scale smuggling to coordinated full-scale attacks might be too tempting to ignore. Which begs the question, how long before they use drones are used to attack US BORDER PATROL and military personnel along the border? 

Not too long at all it seems – according to a New York Post article dated February 3rd, the US DEA EL PASO SECTOR INTELLIGENCE AND OPERATIONS CENTER (EPT-IOC) received intel that Mexican cartel leaders have already ordered their members to use kamikaze drones to attack US personnel.

"Mapping and Profiling the Most Threatening Criminal Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean" is by Jeremy McDermott and Steven Dudley, co-Funders and co-Directors of InSight Crime.
This report was funded by the European Union. It was produced with the contribution of the following institutions: Expertise France, InSight Crime, European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats – EMPACT.