In recent years, organized crime in Latin America has adopted a new tactic: the use of drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as weapons to exercise a new level of power and control to attack authorities, rival gangs, and citizens who do not comply with their criminal demands. This threat represents a challenge for law enforcement.
Criminal organizations modify commercial drones to carry out aerial attacks, equipping them with remote-controlled explosives, Mexican news site La Silla Rota reported. These commercial drones are adapted with grenades and other explosives to carry out attacks, Argentine magazine Pucará Defensa reported.
UAVs are not only used in direct attacks, but also to transport illicit substances and spy on security forces. Since 2018, several cartels have been observed using commercial drones, Pucará reported. According to Colombian daily El Confidencial, both Mexican cartels and dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) employ these UAVs.
“It’s extremely frightening to observe how these new technologies can be used by criminal organizations as weapons […], giving them considerable power,” Yadira Gálvez, a security expert and academic at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told Diálogo on May 5.
According to Gálvez, this implies an evolution in the modus operandi of criminal organizations, where they avoid direct confrontations with other criminal groups or the authorities. “This minimizes the risk for their partners, but increases violence and harm for all parties involved, including the civilian population.”
Drone Operators
The Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) joined the criminal group known as Drone Operators (Operadores Droneros) to attack rival gangs, but they are not the only criminals in Mexico to employ this tactic. The Sinaloa Cartel has also been using drones since 2021 for aerial attacks in the north of the country, La Silla Rota reported.
“Although the Drone Operators are still a new group within the CJNG, it doesn’t mean they are harmless; they have enough power to focus our attention on them,” a Mexican Army intelligence official, who requested anonymity, told U.S. news site The Daily Beast. The group is currently operating in the states of Michoacan and Jalisco.
The CJNG also began using drones to drop chemical explosives, which is a huge health risk for the inhabitants, reported the Human Security Observatory of Apatzingán in Michoacán, after more than 100 CJNG members attacked several towns in the region through this means.
“The use of various engineering tools shows how criminal groups take advantage of technological advances to boost their operations and capabilities,” Gálvez said. “This exploitation occurs especially when they have economic resources and develop specific technical skills.”
According to Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense General Luis Crescencio Sandoval, Michoacán is where drones and landmines are most used against the Army, Mexican daily Tabasco Hoy reported, adding that he announced that the Secretariat is seeking to acquire technology to prevent these crimes.
“The attacks lead us to take measures and to evaluate what actions would help us to protect our personnel more. That is, acquiring technology to counteract the action of drones and the rapid location of explosive devices,” Gen. Sandoval said. According to Telemundo, authorities dismantle up to eight drones with explosives in Michoacan daily.
The cartels have been acquiring drones from Chinese company DJI, which offers 4K video and autonomy of up to 20 kilometers, Pucará reported. The most common model is the Mavic, with different flight capabilities, resolution, and stability.
“The ease with which these organizations acquire these devices complicates tracking their origin and how to deal with their capabilities,” Gálvez said. “In Mexico, the lack of airspace regulation for drones leaves us lagging, with only one existing guideline. In addition, the FARC dissidents case also exemplifies the use of these drones.”
Colombia
On April 26, the Colombian Military Forces seized 197 explosives hidden in underground containers in the southern department of Cauca, which were intended to be used by FARC dissidents in drone attacks in the same region, Cambio Colombia magazine reported.
Each bomb contained pentolite, a high explosive, detonating cord, and a fastening system to attach them to the drones. In addition, pellets and shrapnel designed to increase their destructive power were found.
During a meeting of senior military commanders, General Helder Fernán Giraldo Bonilla, commander of the Colombian Military Forces, said that military intelligence allowed them to find FARC dissidents using UAVs, Argentine news site Infobae reported on March 20.
Gen. Giraldo emphasized “the need to implement detection and early warning systems, establish no-fly zones in critical and strategic areas, and develop defensive tactics to neutralize these devices,” Infobae reported. He stressed that the authorities were not seeking to alarm the population, yet confirmed that FARC dissidents were training in the use of drones.
Strategic cooperation
These criminal organizations are increasing their capability to cause harm to the state and society. The use of high-powered weaponry by these groups not only intensifies the repercussions, but also introduces a new dimension of criminal violence when their actions directly impact the communities, Gálvez said.
As such, she added, there is a need to re-evaluate how criminal organizations are classified in Latin America. “The fact that they adopted terror tactics to cause direct harm to communities poses a fundamental challenge that requires regional attention. We saw this in Ecuador, with the designation of criminal groups as terrorist entities,” Gálvez said.
To combat organized crime’s use of drones, it is essential to improve the capabilities of security forces in all areas, Gálvez said. “Strategic cooperation is required to strengthen both security and military forces, including the provision of equipment and training. Establishing synergies with strategic partners such as the United States and the European Union is key, as well as for States to regain territorial control,” she concluded.