Mexican cartels use drones to transport drugs into El Paso, conduct surveillance

A federal official in El Paso, Texas, recently confirmed a Mexico law enforcement officer's statements claiming that cartels are deploying drones to transport narcotics into the United States, according to Border Report.

On Thursday, Chihuahua Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya stated that he is seeing an increase in drone use by Mexican drug cartels flying drugs into El Paso.

'We have 15 countermeasure devices against drones.'

He said, "In the area of the [Big Red X] monument, they have been using drones to cross packages of drugs and drop them off on the other side."

The monument, about 100 yards south of the border, is also known as Plaza de la Mexicanidad.

Loya also noted that the cartels in Juarez, Mexico, are using the drones to monitor law enforcement activity on both sides of the border and "as a guide to caravan the migrants into the United States," KTSM reported, translating his comments.

A U.S. federal official told Border Report that there have been drug-drone encounters in the area. However, the official could not provide any details about the number of drones or what types of narcotics are being transported.

The news outlet noted that Juarez cartels are primarily known for trafficking methamphetamine.

Despite confirmations from that official, the Border Report noted that federal officials in El Paso were unable to verify whether drones are crossing into the U.S. or whether they are being used to direct illegal immigrants.

Loya reported that his team has taken down a number of drones in the mountains of Chihuahua near the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We have 15 countermeasure devices against drones. Some force the drone to turn back, some cut off its signal entirely, so it falls to the ground, and some just track the drone to its base," he remarked.

Last month, a leaked bulletin reportedly from the U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma Sector Intelligence Unit warned that Mexican cartels were using drones to "drop explosives" on rival gangs, Blaze News previously reported.

Air Force General Gregory Guillot told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year that there were "over 1,000" drone incursions each month near the border.

"I haven't seen any of them manifest in a threat to the level of national defense, but I see the potential only growing," he told lawmakers.

While authorities report an increase in drone activity at the southern border, law enforcement officials in Juarez are attempting to stave off a cartel's attacks against their surveillance cameras, according to Border Report.

Loya told reporters on Thursday that authorities recently installed 11 cameras on the streets of Juarez to monitor the cartel's activities. Since then, members of the cartel have reportedly shot at the cameras and struck them with hammers. In another instance, they allegedly set a utility pole on fire to destroy the equipment.

"Organized crime feels threatened by this system that is being installed throughout the state," Loya stated.

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