Tag: cartels

US Prohibits Unauthorized Drones Along US-Mexico Border

The Trump administration banned unauthorized drone activity along the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 16 to increase airspace security as it cracks down on drug cartel drone operations.

The ban, established through a temporary flight restriction for drones, was announced in a joint statement by the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Transportation. Friday’s announcement comes as U.S. officials have warned that the United States faces thousands of drone incursions at the southern border each month.

The new temporary flight restriction took effect Friday and prohibits any unauthorized drones from operating up to 400 feet above ground level. The restriction extends one nautical mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The United States government will maintain 100% operational control of our border: land, air, and sea,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement. “For too long, cartels have taken advantage of gaps along our southern border. Thanks to President Donald J. Trump, those days are over.”

Friday’s joint announcement said the flight restriction for drones along the southern border builds upon the administration’s previous efforts to secure the border and defend against national security threats, such as illegal cartel operations. The departments said the restriction will reduce risks to continued border security operations.

Hegseth said that the Trump administration’s decision to restrict unauthorized drone activity will give U.S. commanders more awareness, increased decision space, and additional options to defend the country.

“Equipped with cutting-edge technology – including Directed Energy Weapons – our warfighters will shoot down any cartel drone that threatens America’s sovereignty,” he added.

In March 2024, Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there were likely more than 1,000 drone incursions along the southern border each month. He described the number as “alarming.”

In August, Joint Task Force-Southern Border used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser to shoot down three drones linked to Mexican drug cartels, U.S. Northern Command said. The command said the drones were determined to be directly supporting activities that posed a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and U.S. Customs and Border Protection partners.

U.S. Northern Command later said in September the task force had taken down more than 300 unmanned aircraft systems since the start of this year by using both kinetic and non-kinetic systems.

Last month, Hegseth directed the Pentagon to take steps to accelerate the development and use of anti-drone systems across the U.S. military. He warned that American adversaries are quickly producing low-cost unmanned systems and are using them to conduct surveillance, cause disruptions, and carry out attacks.

The Trump administration also previously directed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expedite its rule-making process for establishing drone flight restrictions over sensitive locations.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday’s temporary flight restriction showed that the administration was doubling down on its promise to secure the U.S.-Mexico border by protecting U.S. airspace from threats posed by cartel drones and other illegal operations.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said, “This action will help counter cartel drone threats, protect our personnel, and strengthen security in the airspace above the border.”

An official notice for airmen advisory will be published by the FAA. It will include links to the domestic notice and the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Data Delivery System.

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Sinaloa Cartel Obtains State-of-the-Art Combat Attack Drones in Mexico

A recent seizure by Mexican authorities unmasked a new development in which the Sinaloa Cartel is now obtaining state-of-the-art combat attack drones similar to the ones being used in the Russia-Ukraine war. The issue comes at a time when social media videos have surfaced showing Sinaloa Cartel gunmen fighting in the war as a way to get trained in the newest attack drone technology.

The seizure took place this week near Mazatlan, Sinaloa, where authorities seized 15 high-end drones with fiber optic wires, headsets, and controls, as well as 42 improvised explosive devices. The seizure raised alarms within Mexico’s security forces since the type of drones seized are not the typical commercial drones used by cartels — already a major security concern.

Just one day after the initial seizure, Sinaloa state police forces seized 80 additional explosive devices that were made to be attached to drones.

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Mexican Politician Forces Military to Release Son-in-Law – Terrorist Cartel Figure

A Mexican politician from the country’s ruling party is believed to have used her influence to pressure the Mexican military to release her son-in-law. The man was the target of a raid focused on a terrorist cartel extortion operation in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

The incident took place this weekend, when Mexican military forces arrested Gregorio Sauceda del Toro in connection with an operation targeting the Gulf Cartel’s extortion operations in Reynosa. The 35-year-old Sauceda is the son of the late Gregorio “Caramuela”, “Goyo” or “Metro2” Sauceda Gamboa, a top leader in the Gulf Cartel who was arrested in Matamoros in 2009 and is presumed dead.

As Breitbart Texas reported, in recent months and due to the slowdown of drug and migrant operations into Texas, the Gulf Cartel increased its extortion and kidnapping operations in cities like Matamoros, Reynosa, and Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. As part of their operations, the Gulf Cartel threatens local businesses into only getting their supplies from cartel-approved vendors, as well as forcing them to pay a regular protection fee. The businessmen also have to sell a set number of cartel-bought items. This new tactic has moved the terrorist organization from drugs and migrants into controlling the sale of flowers, charcoal, meats, and other regular products.

Shortly after Sauceda Del Toro’s arrest, Mexican Congresswoman Eva Reyes reportedly used her political weight to get the military to release her son-in-law. The release is searchable in Mexico’s public security database, which tracks all federal-level arrests. In that document, Sauceda Del Toro appears as having been arrested by Mexico’s Army on Friday at 6:50 p.m. in the Jacinto Lopez neighborhood. The document also shows him as “released”.

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Mexican Government Gets Egg on Face After Claims of Historic Raid on Cartel Fuel Theft Fall Apart

Mexico’s government has eggs on its face after it carried out a large-scale raid at a fuel depot and tried to pass it off as a historic cartel fuel-theft raid. The embarrassing news came amid the victory dance when the company that owns the fuel depot produced documents and receipts showing the depot was in legal standing and had all the needed permits.

The incident began on September 17, when Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR), along with Mexican federal security forces, raided a large fuel depot in the state of Guanajuato, seizing 59 million liters of diesel. Mexican authorities hyped up the raid, claiming that the large-scale fuel complex was clandestine in nature and illegal.

The following day, Mexico’s top security official Omar Garcia Harfuch gave a press conference where he announced the “historic seizure” and claimed that while no arrests were made during the raid, arrests of illegal fuel dealers would follow.

The move follows an apparent crackdown on illegal fuel that is either stolen or smuggled into the country in a practice known as huachicol- a colloquial term for dirty fuel.

Hours after the news conference, the fuel company GRUPO SIMSA issued a news release claiming that its fuel depot in San Jose Iturbide, Guanajuato, was in full legal standing and had been operating for nine years. In its statement, Grupo SIMSA listed several permit numbers from state and federal licensing agencies, including national security, environmental, soil use, and transportation entities, that had all signed off on the depot’s use. The company said it had turned over all the documents to federal authorities, but the public can search for them in publicly available state, federal, and local government databases.

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Arizona Corrections Officer Arrested for Smuggling 5,400 Rounds of Ammo for Mexican Drug Cartel

Mexican authorities said they arrested an American who allegedly was bringing ammunition into Mexico for a drug cartel.

The woman had 5,400 rounds of ammunition with her when she was detained, Mexican authorities said, according to the New York Post.

The name of the woman was given variously as “Yanet ‘N’” and Yanet Dowden.

The second name was based on a report from the Mexican newspaper Excelsior, which said an Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation & Reentry identification card calling the suspect “Yanet Dowden” was found on the suspect.

The card said she was a “Level II correctional officer.”

The New York Post report said the woman was 22, based on a social media account.

The website Cartel Insider noted that the ID card had not yet been verified.

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US Deports Ex-Ecuadorian Minister Tied to Cartel Murder of Presidential Candidate

ICE overrode judge’s decision blocking José Serrano’s removal.

Ex-Ecuadorian minister José Serrano, accused of aiding a cartel murder presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023, has been deported by ICE.

Ecuadorian conservative Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated at a campaign rally in August 2023.

Fernando Villavicencio was reportedly shot in the head three times.

Supporters of the popular conservative, Fernando Villavicencio, managed to capture a suspect after the assassination.

A grenade was also found at the scene.

The criminal gang “Los Lobos,” based in Ecuador, later claimed responsibility for the assassination.

José Serrano’s removal took place even after a US judge blocked Serrano’s removal arguing he may be tortured if returned to the South American nation.

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US Military Shoots Down 3 Mexican Cartel Drones With Laser

A laser system was used to shoot down three drug cartel drones in southern Texas, close to the Mexican border, the U.S. military said on Aug. 27.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, in a joint statement, said an Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) was used overnight on Aug. 25-26 in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) deemed the three drones to be hostile and posing a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and their partners in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of JTF-SB, said the successful operation against the drones was a testament to the readiness, vigilance, and technological edge of his force.

US Will ‘Not Tolerate Hostile Surveillance’

“Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human-smuggling and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners,” Taylor said. “By integrating layered countermeasures alongside advanced directed-energy capabilities like this laser system, we have made it clear that we will not tolerate hostile surveillance.”

Ammon Blair, a former U.S.Border Patrol agent and senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Secure & Sovereign Texas Initiative, told The Epoch Times in March 2025 that he recalled hearing cartel-operated drones overhead while working along the Texas border.

“You’d be running, and you’d have a drone right above your head and tracking every move you made,” Blair said at the time.

In February, the airspace around El Paso International Airport was closed for 7 hours for “special security reasons.”

The White House told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement at the time that Mexican cartel-operated drones had breached U.S. airspace and that the Department of War took action to disable them.

In other parts of Mexico, cartels have used drones to drop explosives in deadly attacks, but there is no suggestion the drones in the Texas incident were armed.

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Mexican national operating money service charged with laundering cartel drug proceeds

Christopher A. Bravo Marin, 46, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week charging him with conspiring to launder at least $750,000 in drug proceeds on behalf of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of the most prolific and dangerous drug cartels in Mexico, according to U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen.

Marin, aka Bravo, a Mexican national was arrested Monday by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents. He appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge in Minneapolis on Aug. 25, 2026.

According to the charges:

From at least February 2023 to at least February 2026, Bravo, an employee of a Minnesota-based money transmitting business, conspired with members of a CJNG drug distribution cell in Minnesota to launder drug proceeds and transfer them to cartel leaders in Mexico through the money transmitter where he worked. Bravo used his position at the money transmitter and his understanding of his employer’s compliance policies and procedures to evade their anti-money laundering controls and conceal the illicit source of the funds he laundered. Cartel members paid Bravo approximately $40-50 for each transfer that he laundered.

To transfer the funds, Bravo allegedly structured the amount of money to be sent to Mexico across multiple transfers, ensuring that each transfer was always right below $1,000—the money transmitter’s threshold for collecting and verifying a customer’s identification document. Bravo created fake names of Hispanic origin to serve as the senders and sent the money to straw beneficiaries in Mexico whose names he received from cartel members.

After processing the transfers, Bravo forged the signature of the senders on each payment confirmation receipt to make the transfer appear legitimate and texted screenshots of the receipts to his co-conspirators so that the funds could be redeemed in Mexico.

Bravo is charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Trial attorney Javier Urbina of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) and Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca E. Kline for the District of Minnesota are prosecuting the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s press release explained that MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

“This defendant strengthened a criminal infrastructure by helping transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds to cartel leaders,” said Rosen. “My office remains committed to taking down drug trafficking organizations that threaten the public safety of the people of Minnesota.”

Bravo was released from custody on an appearance bond after making his initial court appearance.

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Nevada man pleads guilty to providing 140 firearms to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico

From April 1, 2020, to September 17, 2025, Osorio conspired with co-defendants to purchase firearms, magazines and ammunition on behalf of people affiliated with drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.

The 140 firearms purchased by Osorio included multiple large-caliber and long-range firearms.

Osorio also admitted to harboring people who unlawfully resided in the United States to employ them at a Nevada mining company, according to the DOJ.

“Trafficking military-style firearms and ammunition to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico fuels violence, strengthens criminal networks and threatens communities on both sides of the border,” said Jonathan Sherwin, Deputy Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Las Vegas.

“In the world of organized crime and drug trafficking, guns and drugs go hand-in-hand,” said David S. Olesky, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division, which also covers Nevada.

“Firearms trafficking networks feed the violent cartels that terrorize border communities and pump illicit drugs into our neighborhoods,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. “By cutting off this supply chain and holding this defendant accountable, we are directly disrupting the operational capabilities of these dangerous criminal organizations.”

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Mexico Arrests Former Governor for Alleged Cover-Up of 2014 Student Massacre

Authorities in Mexico arrested a former governor in connection with the cover-up of an infamous massacre where police forces kidnapped 43 education students during a protest. The police turned them over to cartel gunmen who are believed to have slaughtered them and disposed of their bodies.

The arrest took place on Wednesday afternoon in Mexico State when authorities arrested Angel Aguirre, who was the governor of Guerrero in 2014 at the time of the massacre. He is accused of helping to cover up the incident. Soon after the arrest, Mexico’s Attorney General Ernestina Godoy released a video on social media where she provided details of the case and what led authorities to move against Aguirre.

Known as the Ayotzinapa massacre, the kidnapping and murders happened in September 2014, when a group of student stole some buses to make their way to a protest. As Breitbart Texas reported, along the way, Mexican authorities shot at the buses and kidnapped the students, only to turn them over to a local cartel. The cartel gunmen then murdered the students and disposed of their bodies. The case sparked much controversy amid allegations of government cover-ups and false accounts of the students’ fate. In the 12 years since the massacre, only the remains of a handful have been located.

According to Godoy, the investigation into the case revealed that Aguirre ordered the destruction of evidence in the case that showed that Mexican police forces had been responsible for the initial kidnapping of the students. Godoy claimed that the surveillance cameras of the city hall in the town of Iguala captured the moment when police forces stopped a bus that the students had stolen and proceeded to kidnap them. During the investigation, government officials claimed there were no video recordings of the incident. The new investigation revealed that there was a video of the kidnapping.

As part of the investigation, authorities interviewed a cooperating witness who revealed that the videos from Iguala were taken by a government official and given directly to Aguirre. A second witness told authorities that during a meeting with high officials, Aguirre had ordered the destruction of any evidence that connected government officials with the kidnapping in Iguala.

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