U.S. Customs and Border Protection detected over 42,000 unmanned drone flights near the southern border in fiscal year 2025, a figure that underscores the scale of cartel aerial operations.
Cartels use drones for surveillance of U.S. agents, coordinating smuggling, and have begun weaponizing them with explosives, posing a direct threat to law enforcement.
A recent incursion near El Paso, Texas, prompted an unprecedented FAA airspace closure and a military response, highlighting the operational challenge of distinguishing cartel drones from civilian objects.
Federal agencies face significant legal and jurisdictional hurdles in countering the threat due to restrictive FAA regulations and overlapping authority between multiple departments.
The surge in drone activity represents a strategic shift for cartels, granting them persistent, sophisticated surveillance capabilities that complicate traditional border security measures.
In an unprecedented escalation of border warfare, Mexican drug cartels conducted tens of thousands of unmanned drone flights along the U.S. southern frontier in a single year, leveraging advanced aerial technology to surveil American law enforcement, coordinate smuggling, and probe U.S. airspace. New data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, revealing over 42,000 detected flights in fiscal year 2025, confirms that cartels have industrialized their drone operations, creating a persistent surveillance network that federal agencies are struggling to counter. This technological arms race, which recently triggered a military response and a temporary shutdown of civilian airspace over El Paso, Texas, marks a dangerous new phase in cross-border criminal activity, challenging decades of security protocols.
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