Drone Attacks In Mexico More Than Doubled Last Year: Report

Drone attacks in Mexico more than doubled last year compared to the one prior as cartels increasingly use such devices in their operations, according to a new report.

Border Report noted that Mexico recorded 77 drone attacks last year, compared to 35 the year prior. Henry Ziemer, associate fellow for the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the outlet that cartels are buying signal jammers to guard themselves against attacks from rival factions.

"Mexico has been at the leading edge of illicit drone use not just as a weapon against the state and rivals, but also as a means of intimidating and pressuring the civilian population," the expert added.

In another passage of the piece, experts noted that cartels are recruiting teenagers to train them as surveillance and attack drone operators.

The organizations are also using drones to attack law enforcement. In late October, officials in the border city of Tijuana said a police station was attacked by drones carrying explosive devices.

Days after the incident, Baja California Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez confirmed that a cartel was behind the attack, which specifically targeted the station's anti-kidnapping unit.

"It was an attack directly on the patio of our installation," she said. "As a way to ease the public's mind, this was not an attempt on the residents, and we don't believe it has anything to do with our proximity to the border," Andrade Ramírez said.

Concretely, three drones equipped with explosives, containing nails and pieces of metal, targeted the facility last week and damaged several police vehicles parked outside. No injuries were reported.

Earlier this year, a former operative for the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) said in an interview that the group modifies agricultural drones to drop explosives on rival factions.

Similarly, U.S. officials have warned about the growing number of drone sightings involving criminal groups.

Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's counter-drone program, told a U.S. Senate committee last month that cartel-operated drones conducted more than 27,000 flights within 500 meters of the southern border during the last six months of 2024.

"It's just a matter of time until Americans or law enforcement agents are targeted," Willoughby said, adding that cartel drones have been linked to more than 1,500 arrests along the southwest border.

A recent report by The Telegraph revealed that, as drones become an increasingly important tool for criminal organizations, cartel members from Mexico and Colombia are joining foreign fighter groups in Ukraine to enhance their drone warfare skills.

According to the report, these individuals are enlisting in Ukraine's International Legion to learn how to operate first-person view kamikaze drones. The devices provide a live video feed, allowing pilots to guide explosive-laden aircraft directly to their targets.