Latin America grapples with drone arms race, but cartels and gangs are the leading stakeholders

Latin America is experiencing a major change in security with drones playing a key role for both law enforcement and criminal groups. Governments are aiming to acquire advanced drones for surveillance and military use. However, cartels and gangs seem to have adapted fast, using drones for smuggling, spying and even attacks. This growing competition has created an uneven fight where state forces struggle to keep up with the fast-changing tactics of criminal networks.

Governmental use of drones

Governments across Latin America are investing more in drone technology to fight drug trafficking and organised crime. According to a piece Drones Fuel Criminal Arms Race in Latin America by Juan Camilo Jaramillo in InSight Crime countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Colombia use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for border surveillance, crime monitoring and even airstrikes against insurgent groups. Drones have improved intelligence gathering reducing the need for ground patrols in dangerous areas.

In Mexico, authorities use surveillance drones along the US-Mexico border to track drug trafficking routes. Brazil deploys UAVs to monitor illegal mining in the Amazon, helping to catch environmental criminals and drug smugglers. Colombia, which has long battled guerrilla groups and drug cartels uses drones in anti-narcotics operations to find and destroy coca plantations.

However, governments face challenges in using drones due to limited funding, lack of technical expertise and slow bureaucratic processes. Meanwhile, criminal organisations adapt quickly modifying drone technology to expand their illegal activities.

Unchecked proliferation of drones

Latin American governments are struggling to develop effective drone strategies, but criminal groups have embraced these aerial devices as essential tools for their operations. Drug cartels and gangs have taken advantage of the widespread availability of commercial drones and their ability to modify them for smuggling, surveillance and attacks.

Mexican drug cartels have been among the first to use drones for trafficking flying narcotics across tightly controlled borders without being detected by law enforcement. Mexican cartels such as the CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Familia Michoacana have each incorporated drones for different criminal purposes.

These UAVs can carry small but valuable drug shipments avoiding traditional security checks. Some cartels have even transformed drones into deadly weapons by equipping them with explosives.

As reported by News Nation in August 2023, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), known for its extreme violence, deployed explosive-laden drones to target security personnel. This demonstrates how organised crime is advancing its tactics.

Criminal factions in Brazil and Colombia have also taken advantage of drone technology. The First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC), one of Brazil’s most powerful criminal organisations, uses drones to oversee and control favelas.

In Brazil’s favelas or slums, drones serve as crucial surveillance tools for gangs allowing them to track police movements and organise drug transportation more efficiently. These devices provide real-time information giving criminals an edge over authorities.

In Colombia, criminal networks, including ex-FARC mafia groups, have incorporated drones into their operations, particularly in remote jungle areas where traditional surveillance is difficult, using them to strengthen their fight against the government.

Across Latin America — including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Panama — criminal organisations have adopted drone technology to strengthen their hold over territories, transport illegal goods and challenge security forces.

In Haiti, gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, widely known as “Barbecue,” survived a police raid on March 1 and later threatened to use explosive drones in retaliation, Jaramillo wrote in his piece in InSight Crime.

The first indications of drones being used for criminal activities in Latin America came from inside prisons. Drones have now replaced pigeons, which were previously used to deliver messages and small packages. These airborne devices have made it easier to smuggle weapons, drugs, food, alcohol, mobile phones and other contraband into prison facilities.

Since 2014, Brazilian authorities have documented several cases of drones being used to transport banned items into prisons showing how criminal groups have adapted to new technologies to expand their influence.

The widespread availability of commercial drones, which can be altered to transport explosives, continues to pose a growing danger across Latin America. Criminal organisations in the region are constantly evolving their tactics, taking cues from modern warfare technologies used in conflicts such as Ukraine.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have advanced the use of AI-driven and kamikaze drones providing a blueprint that Latin American gangs are now adapting for their own operations.

The earliest recorded instance of a non-state armed group using drones dates back to 2006 when Hezbollah launched UAVs carrying 40–50 kilogrammes of explosives against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Growing threat of criminal drone warfare in Latin America

The rapid rise of drone technology among criminal organisations has forced Latin American governments to rethink their counter-drone strategies. Authorities are investing in drone-detection systems, electronic warfare tools and countermeasures like signal jamming. However, these efforts remain uncoordinated with inconsistent implementation across different regions.

Mexico has tested drone-detection radars and electromagnetic countermeasures, but the country’s vast and porous borders make enforcement difficult. In Brazil, law enforcement agencies have deployed anti-drone technology to safeguard high-risk areas, yet criminal drone operations continue to expand at a faster pace.

Colombia, seeking to enhance its defences, has turned to international partners like the United States for assistance, but sustaining these initiatives requires long-term funding.

The gap between government capabilities and criminal innovation remains a major challenge. Unlike official security forces, cartels and gangs operate without legal restrictions, swiftly modifying commercially available drones to suit their needs. This flexibility allows them to adapt at a pace that government agencies struggle to match making drone-based threats an ongoing security concern.

For instance, the CJNG in Mexico has created a specialised drone unit where members are trained to convert commercial drones into airborne bombs targeting rival groups and Mexican authorities, according to a report by The Daily Beast.

This unit, reportedly composed of around a dozen members, began training in 2021 and became fully operational in 2023. So far, its activities have been concentrated in the states of Michoacan and Jalisco.

Chemical weapons, notorious for their devastating effects in World War I, are re-emerging in Mexico as a tool of psychological warfare, a News Nation report said. Criminal organisations are now combining these deadly substances with drone technology to instill fear and cause chaos.

In April 2024, CJNG intensified attacks in Michoacan, deploying drones to drop explosive devices filled with chemical substances. Residents reported that these explosions released gases that led to severe respiratory distress.

The increasing use of drones to spread toxic agents represents a dangerous escalation in cartel violence, directly putting civilians at risk. The use of chemical gases — classified as weapons of mass destruction — demonstrates the growing sophistication of these criminal tactics and raises concerns about even deadlier methods being used in the future.

Cartels using drones to spy on US border patrol

The use of drones along the US-Mexico border has increased in recent months and not just by law enforcement. While US agencies have stationed drones in Mexico to gather intelligence on drug cartels, reports indicate that criminal organisations are also using drones to track US Border Patrol movements.

According to Border Report, cartels are deploying drones to monitor law enforcement activities and identify weak points for illegal crossings.

Beyond surveillance, criminal groups have also used drones to launch attacks on border patrol agents. An internal memo from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) suggested that cartels have been given the “green light” to use drones armed with explosives against agents. The memo advised CBP personnel to wear ballistic armour and carry long-range firearms while on duty highlighting the growing threat posed by cartel-operated drones.

International cooperation

Given the transnational nature of organised crime, tackling the growing use of drones by cartels in Latin America requires international cooperation. The United States, recognising the threat posed by cartel-operated drones, has intensified intelligence-sharing efforts with Mexico and other regional partners.

Joint operations between Latin American nations and external allies aim to curb the flow of drone technology into criminal hands, though these efforts are still in their early stages.

According to a Newsweek report on February 25, 2025, a secret US drone operation, conducted by the Department of Homeland Security and the CIA at Mexico’s request, played a crucial role in tracking and capturing cartel members, including Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

This unarmed drone programme has been operational for over two decades, providing surveillance intelligence that contributed to Guzmán’s arrests in 2014 and 2016, as well as the capture of his son, Ovidio Guzmán, in 2023.

Joaquín Guzman, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking and other crimes. The second Trump administration of the US has designated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organiaations, with threats of tariffs on imports from the country and military action against such groups if fentanyl trafficking and migrant smuggling continued.

The US drone programme has been a key asset in countering cartel operations capturing surveillance footage of cartel activity for over 20 years. MQ-9 Reaper drones, commonly used in counterterrorism operations, were widely deployed feeding intelligence to both US and Mexican officials.

Despite its successes, the future of the US drone programme in Mexico remains uncertain as tensions in US-Mexico security relations rise.

Evolving drone arms race in Latin America

As drone technology advances, the battle between state forces and criminal organisations in Latin America remains uncertain. Drones look set to shape Latin America’s security arena, and the ability of governments to outmanoeuvre cartels will be crucial for long-term stability. Without a coordinated response, the drone arms race may ultimately empower the very organisations that states aim to dismantle.