Mexican cartels use drones to smuggle drugs across the border

Mexican drug cartels have gotten creative with smuggling operations, flying drones across the border and dumping illegal drugs into neighboring El Paso.

According to Border Report, law enforcement officials in Mexico announced Thursday that agents had shot down multiple unmanned aircraft in the mountainous region of Chihuahua state, which straddles the border of Texas and New Mexico.

Chihuahua Public Security Director Gilberto Loya told reporters on Thursday that the takedown was part of efforts to prevent drug trafficking into the United States from Mexico’s “Golden Triangle” of drug production. Mr. Loya said the drones were launched from The Equis — The X — a monument erected in Juarez to symbolize those killed by the region’s ongoing drug wars.

“In the area of ​​the (Big Red X) monument, they have used drones to transport packages of drugs and deliver them to the other side,” he told reporters.

The monument is located in the city Plaza de la Mexicanidad and is located just 100 yards south of the Rio Grande. The plaza has long been used as a landmark for migrants seeking asylum with the U.S. Border Patrol. The 200-foot-tall art installation can be seen across the river from El Paso.

U.S. officials confirmed to Border Report that they have also stopped drones from transporting drugs into Texas and New Mexico, but they would not say exactly how much drugs were being transported and what type of drugs.

Mr Loya also said at Thursday’s press conference that the cartels are using the drones to monitor police activity on both sides of the border while also smuggling people across the border.

“We’ve seen them use drones to monitor Border Patrol officials, and they’re using the drones as guides to lure migrants into the United States in caravans,” he said.

Chihuahua state police are teaming up with the Mexican military to expand their hunt for drug cartel drones before they cross the border into the United States.