Mexican Drug Cartel Use Weaponized Drones to Assault Rivals in Brutal Drug Wars

A drug cartel in Mexico is terrorizing its rivals by using weaponized drones equipped with fatal ammunition in the latest acts of violence of drug wars that have continued to ravage the Central American nation.

The new generation of the Jalisco Cartel, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) has been using airborne attacks much more frequently. Authorities believe the drug cartel has control of one-third of the illegal drugs that are smuggled into the United States.

Deadly weaponized drones

Officials said that the drones are used to gain a larger hold of the country's illegal drug exports. The director of research and analysis at C/O Futures, Robert Bunker, said that the CJNG has been using weaponized drones to attack rivals since 2017, as reported by the New York Post.

Bunker added that the CJNG is getting closer to institutionalizing the brutal use of weaponized drones in the region. The official said that other cartels in the area have not even begun to experiment with the technology as part of their drug war.

A militia group that consisted of farmers in Michoacan reported earlier this month that they found two drones equipped with C4 explosives and ball bearings. They also reported hearing explosives they believed came from similar devices.

According to Forbes, in 2017, Bunker revealed that authorities arrested four members of the CJNG who were found to possess a drone equipped with a "papa bomba" (potato bomb) and had a hand grenade.

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In 2018, an armed drone assaulted the home of a senior official in Baja, California. Although the target was not currently inside the residence, the bombardment seems to have been a warning to strike fear.

This year, three CNJG drones were recovered which were armed with explosives. Authorities believe the weaponized machine is part of a weapons arsenal used against the Rosa de Lima cartel, a rival gang to the CJNG.

Ease of access

Bunker said that consumer drones are easily purchasable these days but noted that weaponizing the technology is a much more difficult feat. He said that the reason for the challenge is not the availability of military-grade explosives but the knowledge an individual needs to create improvised explosive devices (IED).

Authorities found the weaponized drones to have been wired and capable of being detonated remotely to conduct kamikaze attacks on unsuspecting victims. The technology is similar to the previously used quadcopters that have been jury-rigged and used in the assassination attempt on Venezuelan President Maduro in 2018 that ended in failure.

Experts noted that the weaponized drones were much less sophisticated that bomber drones that terrorist groups in the Middle East including ISIS have been using since 2016. The advanced machines were capable of dropping modified 40mm grenades with high accuracy and caused devastating damage to Iraqi government forces, as reported by Asia Times.

The dangerously sophisticated drones have become much more prominent in the Middle East. Officials believe that the technology's absence in Mexico is a result of the cartels' lack of access to high-grade munitions.