Cartel drones drop explosives near southern border

A Mexican cartel is using drones to “drop explosives” on a rival gang near the Arizona southern border, the New York Post reported, citing a recently leaked bulletin.

The United States Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector Intelligence Unit released a bulletin on Tuesday warning about the recent cartel activity along the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the alert, members of Los Salazar, a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel, are using drones with explosives to attack Los Pelones, a rival cartel. The activity is part of an ongoing conflict between the two cartels in Sonoyta, Mexico, roughly two miles from the border.

“Other confrontations between these two organization[s] have occurred along the border, south of Wellton Stations area of operations in recent months,” the bulletin read. “Agents are reminded to take any necessary precautions if drones are encountered or obse[rved] and report that activity up their chain of command as soon as possible.”

In March, Air Force General Gregory Guillot told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, in his estimation, there are “over 1,000” drone incursions each month at the southern border, calling the number of encounters “alarming,” Blaze News previously reported. Guillot noted that no one knows the exact number of incursions but that it is “in the thousands.”

At the time, he told lawmakers, “I haven’t seen any of them manifest in a threat to the level of national defense, but I see the potential only growing.”

Cartel spotters typically use the drones to spot gaps in the border wall where they can sneak past law enforcement agents undetected. Guillot stated that some of the drones may be used to carry illicit drugs over the border.

Last year, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez told the House Oversight Committee that more than 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 sightings were reported over a one-year period.

“We have made great progress in countering the threat of small, unmanned platforms,” Chavez said. “However, the adversaries have 17 times the number of drones, twice the amount of flight hours, and unlimited funding to grow their operations.”

In 2023, Customs and Border Protection called human smugglers’ use of drone technology a “growing trend.”

The Associated Press recently reported that the Mexican army has stated that some of its soldiers have been killed by cartel drones dropping explosives.

Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval stated, “Our personnel have suffered wounds, and some of our troops have even died."

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