HomeNewsBriefHow Organized Crime Networks Are Using Drones to Their Advantage

Criminal groups increasingly deploying drones -- for purposes ranging from surveillance to reported armed attacks of rivals -- has provoked a strong government response in Mexico. But will it be enough?

To monitor and disable drones, Mexico’s Defense Ministry (Secretaría de Defensa Nacional -- SEDENA) plans to employ an anti-drone system costing 215.7 million pesos (about $9.6 million), according to a September 21 El Universal report based on documents obtained by the media outlet.

The acquisition of the new technology comes about a month after a striking report that claimed the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación -- CJNG) had deployed drones loaded with military-grade C4 explosives in Tepalcatepec, Michoacán. The drones targeted local vigilante groups.

SEE ALSO: Are Armed Drones the Weapon of the Future for Mexico's Cartels?

While the alleged equipping of drones with explosives by one of Mexico's most powerful cartels may have raised concerns among authorities, drone use by criminal groups is usually limited to surveillance.

In September, indigenous leaders in the Caru area of Brazil's northern Maranhão state said they feared their territory was being continuously monitored with drones controlled by illegal loggers and drug traffickers seeking to plant marijuana in the zone, UOL News reported.

And drug traffickers in Guatemala employed drones to guide drug planes to clandestine landing strips hidden in Laguna del Tigre National Park, the Washington Post reported in July.

Rangers and soldiers in the zone said they could hear drones fly over jungle bases about once a week. The drug planes subsequently arrived after dark, indicating that traffickers had been using the devices to survey the whereabouts of authorities to ensure a problem-free landing for their pilots.

"Their resources are infinite, and we are just trying to keep up," Juan de la Paz, a Guatemalan army colonel based in the area, told the Washington Post.

The Brookings Institute recently predicted that increased restriction of movement associated with the COVID-19 pandemic would only serve to speed up the proliferation of drone use by crime groups.

InSight Crime Analysis

While Mexico's anti-drone plan comes on the heels of reports that such devices were weaponized by the CJNG, it appears the predominant use of drones by criminal groups is for surveillance, allowing them to monitor patrols near drug trafficking and human trafficking routes.

For example, police in Honduras claimed that the MS13 street gang used drones to escape a raid on a marijuana stash house in San Pedro Sula, La Prensa reported. The gang also employed a video surveillance network in marginal neighborhoods on San Pedro Sula's outskirts.

Human smuggling groups have also deployed such technology to surveil border regions.

SEE ALSO: Drone Use in Latin America: Dangers and Opportunities

In April 2019, a US border patrol agent based in the El Paso sector spotted a drone flying back and forth from Mexico shortly before 10 people were found attempting to cross the border illegally in the same area where the drone had been seen.

For large-scale networks and smaller organizations alike, consumer drones provide a relatively cheap, easily accessible surveillance technology.

Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Centro de Estudios Estratégicos Internacionales -- CSIS), told El Confidencial earlier this year that organized crime groups have been deploying drones that are "commercially available" but "have been adapted for other purposes."

He added that "anyone can go to a shop and buy one," suggesting that drone use by such groups for surveillance purposes will only increase as potential benefits far outweigh costs.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

JALISCO CARTEL / 5 APR 2022

The deaths of 20 people at a clandestine fight in Mexico’s state of Michoacán has revealed how a fairly small…

CONTRABAND / 8 JUN 2022

The Jalisco is allegedly powering the production of 12 percent of all Mexican-made illicit cigarettes, stepping up efforts across the…

COCAINE / 3 AUG 2021

An anti-narcotics operation in western Guatemala has shed further light on how families involved in local politics can play a…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.