For the posters worried about drone flights over Mexico
The U.S. has secretly flown unarmed drones from Mexican airfields to spy on drug cartels, leading to the arrests of kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, one of his sons and other drug lords, U.S. and Mexican officials said.
The flights, operated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Central Intelligence Agency at the Mexican military’s request, have also provided vital information for large drug seizures, the officials said. Using cameras that can capture a license plate from 20,000 feet above, the drones feed surveillance video on cartel smuggling operations, and map out clandestine labs, to authorities on both sides of the border, the officials said.
The drones, many of them MQ-9 Reapers used in counterterrorism operations around the world, are based for a week or two at a time at Mexican airfields, the officials said, highlighting the deep bilateral security cooperation between the two countries. Being based in Mexico enables the drones to spend more time over surveillance targets in the lush mountains of western Mexico that are home to the world’s largest fentanyl smuggling organizations, instead of flying back and forth to the U.S., the officials said.
Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, Mexico’s defense minister, said the American drones provided intelligence that led to the arrest last week of the security chief of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, a son of “El Chapo” who is in a turf war with other factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the biggest drug-smuggling outfits in Mexico.
U.S. drone intelligence also led to the arrest of the elder Guzmán, commonly known as “El Chapo,” in Mexico in 2013 and 2016, the Mexican and U.S. officials said, though he escaped prison twice. In 2023, drones helped find Ovidio Guzmán, another of “El Chapo’s” sons, who had taken over the drug businesswith his brothers.
A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on the program, while the Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The CIA’s covert drone program in Mexico has been in operation for more than two decades, current and former Mexican officials said. The Mexican government acknowledged the U.S. Customs and Border Protection drone flights in 2011, emphasizing that these operations were supervised by Mexican agencies.
The public discussion of bilateral security programs, such as the deployment of drones in Mexico, has long been kept under wraps, former U.S. officials said. Details about the programs’ scope, the operation from Mexican airfields, and their role in high-profile arrests like that of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of “El Chapo,” haven’t been previously reported.
“The Mexican military is very capable, and if we enable them by providing intelligence support, they will go after our common threats,” said Air Force retired Gen. Glen VanHerck, the former commander of U.S. Northern Command, which includes Mexico. “We just need to do it quietly and not brag about it,” he said.
The Mexican government is now on the defensive as public scrutiny of the program increases. The congressional leader of Mexico’s ruling party said he would ask the country’s defense ministry to provide information about the program because of potential foreign intervention.
Sheinbaum said the drone program forms part of a bilateral security and drug interdiction effort that goes back years. But in response to the nationalist outcry over Trump’s threats, her administration proposed a law last week to stiffen penalties for acting on behalf of foreign governments without official clearance.
American drones have been flying over Mexican airspace since the early 2000s, around the time that “El Chapo” made his first of two escapes from Mexican prisons. The drug lord became a prominent leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in the early 1990s and helped turn it into an international drug-trafficking juggernaut, making him one of the most wanted men alive.
The U.S. has secretly flown unarmed drones from Mexican airfields to spy on drug cartels, leading to the arrests of kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, one of his sons and other drug lords, U.S. and Mexican officials said.
The flights, operated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Central Intelligence Agency at the Mexican military’s request, have also provided vital information for large drug seizures, the officials said. Using cameras that can capture a license plate from 20,000 feet above, the drones feed surveillance video on cartel smuggling operations, and map out clandestine labs, to authorities on both sides of the border, the officials said.
The drones, many of them MQ-9 Reapers used in counterterrorism operations around the world, are based for a week or two at a time at Mexican airfields, the officials said, highlighting the deep bilateral security cooperation between the two countries. Being based in Mexico enables the drones to spend more time over surveillance targets in the lush mountains of western Mexico that are home to the world’s largest fentanyl smuggling organizations, instead of flying back and forth to the U.S., the officials said.
Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, Mexico’s defense minister, said the American drones provided intelligence that led to the arrest last week of the security chief of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, a son of “El Chapo” who is in a turf war with other factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the biggest drug-smuggling outfits in Mexico.
U.S. drone intelligence also led to the arrest of the elder Guzmán, commonly known as “El Chapo,” in Mexico in 2013 and 2016, the Mexican and U.S. officials said, though he escaped prison twice. In 2023, drones helped find Ovidio Guzmán, another of “El Chapo’s” sons, who had taken over the drug businesswith his brothers.
A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on the program, while the Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The CIA’s covert drone program in Mexico has been in operation for more than two decades, current and former Mexican officials said. The Mexican government acknowledged the U.S. Customs and Border Protection drone flights in 2011, emphasizing that these operations were supervised by Mexican agencies.
The public discussion of bilateral security programs, such as the deployment of drones in Mexico, has long been kept under wraps, former U.S. officials said. Details about the programs’ scope, the operation from Mexican airfields, and their role in high-profile arrests like that of Ovidio Guzmán, the son of “El Chapo,” haven’t been previously reported.
“The Mexican military is very capable, and if we enable them by providing intelligence support, they will go after our common threats,” said Air Force retired Gen. Glen VanHerck, the former commander of U.S. Northern Command, which includes Mexico. “We just need to do it quietly and not brag about it,” he said.
The Mexican government is now on the defensive as public scrutiny of the program increases. The congressional leader of Mexico’s ruling party said he would ask the country’s defense ministry to provide information about the program because of potential foreign intervention.
Sheinbaum said the drone program forms part of a bilateral security and drug interdiction effort that goes back years. But in response to the nationalist outcry over Trump’s threats, her administration proposed a law last week to stiffen penalties for acting on behalf of foreign governments without official clearance.
American drones have been flying over Mexican airspace since the early 2000s, around the time that “El Chapo” made his first of two escapes from Mexican prisons. The drug lord became a prominent leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in the early 1990s and helped turn it into an international drug-trafficking juggernaut, making him one of the most wanted men alive.
