Alert in Sinaloa: Criminal Groups are Using Drones Equipped with Explosives to Monitor the Army

The Army and the National Guard have deployed a series of operations in Sinaloa to neutralize the use of drones employed by criminal groups for lookout duties, territorial surveillance, and attacks involving improvised explosives—all amidst an internal dispute regarding the operational strengthening of factions within the Sinaloa Cartel. 

Official records indicate that between October 2024 and March 2026, 56 drones were seized in municipalities deemed strategic for trafficking operations. These seizures reflect how these criminal organizations have incorporated commercial and tactical technology to expand their surveillance and monitoring capabilities regarding the movements of federal forces on rural roads, in mountainous terrain, along dirt tracks, and at community access points. 

The largest seizure occurred in Badiraguato, where, in October 2025, military personnel confiscated 22 drones in a single operation. In Culiacán—the epicenter of the criminal structure within the state—multiple seizures were also recorded, including the confiscation of seven drones in June 2025, in addition to other isolated incidents detected by federal forces during patrols and raids. 

Official reports warn that drones are no longer merely improvised or occasional tools; they are now being utilized on an operational scale by criminal groups to maintain constant surveillance over routes, access points, and the movements of authorities.

In addition to lookout duties, federal authorities have detected the use of drones adapted to drop improvised explosives—a tactic previously observed in states such as Michoacán and Jalisco, but which has now begun to spread to Sinaloa amidst a reshuffling of criminal power structures and an intensification of clashes between rival factions. 

Security sources consulted on the matter noted that some of these devices are modified to carry homemade explosive devices, while others are used exclusively for aerial reconnaissance and for monitoring federal operations. But now, tell us: do you believe Mexico is prepared to confront this new technological phase of organized crime?

Source: Milenio