Overview
- CBP Air and Marine Operations and the State Department’s INL trained SSPC personnel in anti-drone response in Tijuana, the first foreign-led exercise of its kind in Mexico.
- Mexico’s security cabinet reports roughly 65 cartel-linked drones seized in the first 11 months of 2025, including 18 captured in Tamaulipas in October.
- Criminal groups employ modified UAVs for reconnaissance, smuggling and to drop improvised explosives such as grenades and Molotov devices in states including Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco and Tamaulipas.
- Their capabilities now include FPV kamikaze systems and fiber‑optic control links to counter jamming, with CJNG operating a dedicated drone squad and cartels recruiting tech‑savvy adolescents.
- A CBS 42 tally documented 77 drone bombings in Mexico in 2024, and authorities have sought international assistance, including requests to China to trace DJI devices, as similar tactics spread in Colombia and Brazil.