Mexican Cartel Drones Trigger El Paso Airport Closure

A drone incident at El Paso International Airport highlighted the increasing use of unmanned aircraft by Mexican cartels and raised US-Mexico border security tensions. The event underscores risks for aviation, logistics, and cross-border trade while prompting coordination between United States and Mexican authorities.

The FAA, overseen by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, temporarily shut down El Paso International Airport on Feb. 10, citing a drone linked to a Mexican cartel. The closure, initially expected to last 10 days, was shortened to seven hours.

However, anonymous government and airline officials offered a different explanation, saying the FAA acted out of caution due to a US Army laser-based anti-drone system being tested nearby. Aviation experts added that spotting a drone near an airport typically causes only short delays, not an extended shutdown.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration had no information regarding drone activity along the border. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said President Donald Trump has “left all options on the table” as the drones become a point of bilateral tension.

Cartel Use of Drones

According to Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, cartels have used inexpensive commercial drones for more than a decade for surveillance and smuggling. Groups such as the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel have equipped drones with improvised explosives to attack Mexican security forces and civilians in central states.

Along the US border, drones are mainly used to transport drugs or monitor border agents to evade detection. The Pentagon reports more than 1,000 drone incursions along the US-Mexico border each month. However, no cartel drone attacks have occurred on US soil.

Scott Brown, former special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona, emphasized the distinction. “It is an incursion, not an attack,” he said. United States and Mexican authorities are coordinating responses, including recent meetings between New Mexico and Chihuahua officials to address the risks.

The El Paso incident coincides with Trump’s repeated statements about potential US military action against Mexican cartels.  On Jan. 4, Trump said that illegal drugs were “pouring” into the United States through Mexico and warned that Washington “will have to do something” if the situation does not change. He described Mexican cartels as “very strong” and claimed Mexico must “get its act together.”

Sheinbaum has warned that any unilateral action on Mexican soil would violate national sovereignty. Some experts, including Mexican Security Analyst Carlos Pérez Ricart, question whether the drone threat warrants such a response, describing the characterization as politically convenient.