Mexico disables four drones used to monitor migrant routes

Mexico’s military has disabled four drones used by criminal groups to monitor migrant-trafficking routes along the U.S. border since Sept. 7, Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said. According to El Financiero, the drones were unarmed and carried no explosives; officials said they were used to watch routes used by migrants.

The results came from Águila Alta, a binational operation involving 800 Mexican military personnel and fixed and mobile equipment designed to disable drones within a three-kilometer radius. The deployment covers the Tijuana-San Diego corridor from Aug. 31 through Sept. 21 and follows a similar arrangement previously used around Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas.

El Financiero reported that the operation is divided into two phases: the first ran from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, while the second began Sept. 7 and is scheduled to continue through Sept. 21. Each country operates within its own territory while coordinating to detect and disable drones used to monitor authorities during the movement of people and drugs.

Trevilla said U.S. authorities initially located one of the four drones on their side of the border, disabled it and shared information with Mexico after it returned to Mexican territory. Mexican forces then brought the drone down and arrested its operator, whom the secretary described as a person involved in illegally moving migrants. The second phase includes simultaneous ground patrols and reconnaissance on both sides of the border.

Source: El Financiero https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/nacional/2026/09/18/mexico-desactiva-cuatro-drones-en-frontera-de-eu-eran-usados-para-vigilar-trafico-de-migrantes