Mexican drug cartels are reportedly using drones to “drop explosives” on rival gangs along the southern Arizona border. New York Post The report cited a recently leaked news report.
The U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector Intelligence Unit released a bulletin on Tuesday warning of recent drug cartel activity along the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the alert, members of Los Salazar, an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, have been using explosive-laden drones to attack rival drug cartel Los Pelones. The activity is part of an ongoing conflict between the two cartels in Sonoyta, Mexico, about two miles from the border.
“Other conflicts between the two organizations[s] “Drone attacks have occurred along the border south of Base Welton’s area of operations in recent months,” the bulletin said. “Agents are urged to take necessary precautions if they encounter or notice a drone.[rved] and report the activity up your chain of command as soon as possible.”
In March, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guyot told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he estimated there were “more than 1,000” drone intrusions on the southern border each month and called the number of encounters “alarming,” according to The Blaze News. Guyot noted that while no one knows the exact number of intrusions, there are “thousands.”
“I have not seen anything that manifests itself as a threat to our national defense, but the possibility is only increasing,” he told lawmakers at the time.
Drug cartel monitors typically use drones to find gaps in border walls to slip through undetected by law enforcement, and Guillot said some of the drones could be used to transport illegal drugs across the border.
Last year, Gloria Chavez, chief patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley district, told the House Oversight Committee that more than 10,000 drone intrusions and 25,000 sightings were reported in one year.
“We have made great progress in countering the threat of small drones,” Chavez said, “but our adversaries have 17 times as many drones, fly twice as long, and have unlimited funding to expand their operations.”
In 2023, Customs and Border Protection called the use of drone technology by human traffickers a “growing trend.”
of Associated Press Recently, the Mexican military reportedly said a drug cartel drone had dropped explosives, killing several soldiers.
“Our members have been wounded and some of our soldiers have been killed,” Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Crescencio Sandoval said in a statement.
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