Cartels Are Flying Drones to Watch Border Agents, Expert Warns, and Incursions Are Rising

Mexican cartels are using drones to watch U.S. security personnel, learn their patrol routines and guide smugglers across the southern border, according to a Fox News report from Mexico City.

Brig. Gen. Brian Filler of Joint Task Force-Southern Border said recently that the U.S. military detected 378 drone incursions along the border in the previous 30 days, and that the trend is rising. He described most of them as commercial drones carrying cameras, used for surveillance tied to smuggling and human trafficking.

Austin Doctor, who directs strategic initiatives at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center, told Fox News Digital the main use at the border is "surveillance and reconnaissance as cartels look to establish a pattern of life for U.S. security personnel." He said most cartels still rely on off-the-shelf drones, but are moving toward larger aircraft, including agricultural drones, with heavier payloads and better resistance to countermeasures. His research named the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a key driver of drone adoption.

Customs and Border Protection confirmed the threat. A spokesperson said the agency detected more than 42,000 near-border drone flights in fiscal 2025 and more than 37,000 in fiscal 2026. DHS has approved counter-drone authorities for CBP, and Border Patrol operations covering the entire southwest border and 100 miles inland can detect, track and mitigate drones, with approval from the DHS secretary.

Armed drones are used more often inside Mexico than at the border, Doctor said, including attacks on rival factions, civilians and local security forces. The report offers two examples. In 2025, Mexican forces in Reynosa seized 18 drones, 151 explosive objects, two improvised explosive devices and a drone detector from a safehouse linked, according to Doctor, to a Gulf Cartel faction. In October 2025, a drone dropped homemade explosives at a prosecutor's office in Tijuana, damaging four vehicles without injuring anyone. Doctor said the risk of more attacks at the border "remains credible."

Mexico says it is responding. This month it sent 500 soldiers and National Guard members, two helicopters and counter-drone systems into five Tamaulipas municipalities. It made certain drone crimes, including dropping explosives, a federal offense in 2024.

Fox is careful about what is still unknown. The number of cartel drones, which groups control which flights, and whether Mexico's countermeasures are working have not been established. One Mexican operation released no before-and-after data on drone traffic. Doctor said it is "almost certain that cartels will continue to innovate and adapt."