The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has started operating a unit of weaponized drone operators that convert commercial drones into bomb-like devices that can be used against their enemies, the Daily Beast reported. Research by C/O Futures and reporting by the Daily Beast have shown that the cartel is ramping up violent drone attacks.
With more than 18,800 members, associates, facilitators, and brokers associated with it throughout the world, the Jalisco Cartel and has a presence in 21 of the 32 states in Mexico, Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram told the House Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance in prepared testimony. Its expansion of drug trafficking and territory goes hand in hand with its violent tendencies, as it is known to engage violently with the Mexican government, security forces and rival cartels, said Milgram.
In an anonymous interview with the Daily Beast, a member of the Jalisco Cartel’s drone unit said that it has been training as a group since 2021 but has only started operating this year.
The Jalisco Cartel has had drone operations since at least 2017 for intelligence gathering, surveillance, propaganda and weaponized devices, C/O Futures reported. However, a specialized unit of drone operators hasn’t come up until recently.
Four members of the Mexican military were killed in November 2022 when they were attacked by explosive drones operated by the Jalisco Cartel, the Daily Beast said. This incident and others, as well as the creation of the drone unit, show the cartel is putting a lot of resources and focus into drone operations. Since 2021, the Mexican military has seized 23 weaponized drones, the Daily Beast said.
Insight Crime described Jalisco as “Mexico's foremost criminal threat and appears set to continue expanding.” Following its rise, the number of murders, disappearances and mass graves found in the Mexican state of Jalisco escalated. It has been involved in a number of infamous mass killings and attacks against public officials while running a public relations campaign trying to ingratiate itself to the public, Insight Crime said.
An offshoot of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco Cartel, started in 2010. According to U.S. officials, it is responsible for about a third of the drugs brought into this country.
Although they were once allies, Jalisco and the Sinaloa Cartel are now bitter enemies, and their fighting over territory has led to much violence across Mexico, according to Insight Crime.
