U.S. Border Patrol agents near Presidio, Texas, have been warned about increased activity by a Sinaloa Cartel faction that allegedly uses drones to move explosives across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to NewsNation.
The warning followed the arrest Monday of two Mexican nationals carrying assault rifles near the Rio Grande. The men said they worked as cartel scouts for the Cabrera faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and had left their posts because they lacked food and payment.
Investigators later learned the faction uses drones to transport explosives across the border for use against rival cartels in Mexico, sources told NewsNation. The same faction had previously used drones for surveillance, but officials described the bomb-carrying drone activity near Presidio as a new escalation in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment, citing an active operation. Border Patrol agents were advised to use caution when approaching suspected cartel associates in the region.
The Cabrera faction is aligned with the wing of the Sinaloa Cartel tied to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who pleaded guilty last year to federal racketeering conspiracy charges after his arrest in Texas. The Trump administration has designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
The report comes amid growing U.S. concern over cartel drone use. Steven Willoughby, deputy director of DHS's counter-drone program, told a Senate committee back in August that cartel drones made more than 27,000 flights within 500 meters of the southern border during the last six months of 2024.
"It's just a matter of time until Americans or law enforcement agents are targeted," he said.
U.S. officials have also warned that Mexican cartels are adapting drones for surveillance, smuggling and attacks on rival factions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators in June that "Mexican cartels are using drones against one another, and we have to assume that at some point they could use them against us, against our interests."
The warning comes as U.S. authorities continue to intensify their campaign against Mexico's largest criminal organizations. Last week, DEA Administrator Terry Cole said the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) remain the agency's "number one priority," calling fentanyl trafficking an "unprecedented threat" and pledging to pursue "every facilitator, every distributor, and every person who profits from this poison."
