Mexican drug cartels have been warring with each other by using drones to drop bombs on competitors. Members of Los Salazar, connected to the infamous Mexican Sinaloa cartel have been flying just south of Arizona in order to attack Los Pelones, a rival cartel. Senate lawmakers are concerned about drones operating over US airspace and are seeking legislation to keep them out, the New York Post reports.
The bombing and inter-cartel rivalry has been centered in Sonoyta, Mexico, according to information released Tuesday by the US Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector Intelligence Unit. “Other confrontations between these two organizations have occurred along the border,” the Border Patrol bulletin adds.
A drug kingpin connected to the Sinaloa cartel was recently arrested in Oregon. And cartel drones are increasingly passing over American airspace – more than 1,000 a month according to Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of North American Defense Command and US Northern Command.
“I don’t know the actual number — I don’t think anybody does — but it’s in the thousands,” Guillot told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “We … probably have over 1,000 a month."
Mexican cartels, long identified for their iron grip on the drug trade and human trafficking, have invaded every sector of the Mexican economy.
Senate Republicans aren’t certain that the Department of Defense has a plan to counter the growing drone threat. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is responsible for monitoring and securing all North American airspace.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IW) wants to amend the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to compel the Pentagon to meet the threat of drones and other unmanned aircraft systems entering US airspace. “On Border Czar Kamala Harris’ watch, murderous drug cartels are controlling the southern border and using drones for turf war attacks within miles of the United States,” Ernst told The Post. “These thugs must be held accountable. That’s why I’m equipping the Pentagon to respond to these incursions by any means necessary.”
The legislation would create a Counter Unmanned Aviation Systems (CUAS) task force.
In 2023, Customs and Border Protection cited drones as the means by which human traffickers could determine the position of border patrol agents. The Mexican army has admitted that soldiers have been killed by cartel drone bombs in Michoacán, Mexico – about 1,000 miles away from the US border. Residents in Michoacan, where the Jalisco drug cartel is fighting for control, said the attacks from the explosive drones are happening on a daily basis.
