Five drones disabled in Tijuana border operation
Mexico’s Defense Ministry reported five drones disabled and one person arrested during Operation Águila Alta. U.S. and Mexican forces operated on their own sides of the border.
Mexico’s Defense Ministry reported five drones disabled and one person arrested during Operation Águila Alta along the Tijuana–San Diego border, according to Infobae México’s September 22 report. Authorities said the aircraft were used for drug trafficking and migrant smuggling.
The operation ran from August 31 through September 21. Mexican forces also reported seizing a firearm, magazines and ammunition. U.S. Customs and Border Protection detected one aircraft; that detection overlapped with a Mexican interception, rather than adding a sixth drone to the total.
Infobae México reported that the shared detection occurred on September 14 in Tijuana’s Nido de las Águilas neighborhood. CBP alerted Mexican authorities before the drone crossed into Mexico. Soldiers disabled it inside Mexican territory and subsequently arrested its alleged operator, recovering a handgun and a drone controller.
The ministry did not provide dates, locations or circumstances for the other four interceptions. Its reported results therefore offer limited detail about those incidents.
The deployment followed a similar March 17–31 operation along the Ciudad Juárez–El Paso border. Both countries used coordinated operations in which each force remained within its own territory. Mexican officials said information sharing and communication between the agencies were central to the operation.