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🇲🇽 Mexico /Crime & Justice

Organized crime uses drones on border, Mexico rules out laser technology

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Mexico’s defense chief says criminal groups use commercial drones to monitor security deployments and identify routes without authorities, helping facilitate migrant trafficking.
  • General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said Mexico has no current discussions about acquiring the U.S. AMP-HEL high-energy laser and instead has deployed 165 counter-drone systems along the northern border.
  • He said joint patrols and tactical information sharing with the United States continue, while authorities report a 96% year-on-year decline in illegal migrant trafficking flows under Operation Northern Border.

Organized crime groups are using commercial drones along Mexico’s northern border to watch authorities and identify routes where no security presence is visible, Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said.

The drones mainly capture and transmit images, Trevilla told a morning news conference attended by President Claudia Sheinbaum. Criminal groups use the information to monitor U.S. authority deployments and facilitate illicit activities including migrant trafficking.

Mainly criminal groups use them to see. They are commercial drones. They only capture images, and that is what they transmit. What are they looking to see? Routes that are clear, where there is no authority presence.

· Ricardo Trevilla TrejoMexico’s defense secretary explains how criminal groups use drones along the northern border.

Despite the growing use of the technology, Mexico is not discussing the purchase of the AMP-HEL high-energy laser system used by U.S. forces in the binational Fiery Vanguard operation to neutralize unmanned aircraft. Trevilla said Mexico’s armed forces have their own infrastructure to contain the threat.

We have 165 counter-drone systems deployed along the northern border, and with that we are getting good results. So far, we have not entered into discussions about it.

· Ricardo Trevilla TrejoTrevilla rules out current talks to acquire a U.S.-style high-energy laser system.

“We have 165 counter-drone systems deployed along the northern border, and with that we are getting good results,” the defense chief said. “So far, we have not entered into discussions about it.”

Trevilla described institutional relations with the U.S. armed forces as “very good and very positive,” based on shared responsibility, mutual trust, respect for sovereignty and “coordination without subordination.” He cited mirror operations, or parallel patrols on each side of the border, along with tactical information exchanges.

Very good and very positive

· Ricardo Trevilla TrejoHe describes Mexico’s institutional relationship with the U.S. armed forces.

Operation Northern Border includes 10,000 National Guard members and 3,000 army personnel. Trevilla said those measures have contributed to a 96% decline in illegal migrant trafficking flows compared with the previous year.

Coordination without subordination

· Ricardo Trevilla TrejoTrevilla characterizes the principle guiding bilateral military cooperation.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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