Mexican Drug Cartels Launched 9,000 Drone Incursions Into US Airspace 

Border security continues to suffer significantly as Mexican drug cartels conducted more than 9,000 drone incursions into US airspace in 2021, Judicial Watch revealed this week. 

Judicial Watch spoke with a senior Homeland Security, interviewed federal officials at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas, and even filed a Freedom of Information Act request with CBP to investigate the use of drones by Mexican drug cartels to surveil federal, state, county, and city agencies and conduct nefarious activities on the border.

CBP officials on the ground told the conservative activist group that cartels used drones for surveillance during human smuggling and drug trafficking operations into the US. They said the drones, many of which can be readily bought off the internet or at a big box retailer, are being used to spot gaps in the border coverage, as well as create diversions in certain areas to confuse CBP agents while smugglers move high-value assets across the border in other locations.

Brandon Judd, the union president representing 20,000 CBP agents, told Judicial Watch the drones are also “dropping fentanyl” packages into the US. 

“They fly into certain locations, drop them to the ground and fentanyl is taken off of them and they take back off into Mexico,” Judd said. 

Readers may recall that we’ve covered cartels flying drugs into the US via these drones over the years. 

Judd said the drones aren’t “military-grade” and “can be purchased anywhere.” He didn’t mention which drone brands are widely used by cartels, but one can only assume it’s Chinese drone maker DJI. 

One concerning topic not covered by Judicial Watch is the militarization of consumer drones. We noted earlier this year that a modified consumer drone went on a bombing raid against a rival drug cartel in Mexico. The video from the drone was absolutely stunning and mimicked the ones used in Syria by terror organizations. This is alarming because what’s to say that these drones could be used against CBP and or other US personnel protecting the border. 

The fact that Mexican drug cartel drones are penetrating US airspace represents a significant failure by the Biden administration and could be a national security threat. 

This revelation comes as the Biden Administration lifts the Title 42 public health authority, and an unmanageable number of illegal immigrants could soon pour across the border.