Mexico’s Secretary of Defense, Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, confirmed on Tuesday that intelligence-gathering drone flights from the United States have played a crucial role in the arrests of at least two prominent cartel leaders.
This announcement follows Mexico’s recent collaboration with the U.S. government to enhance aerial surveillance of cartel activities. Trevilla stated that the apprehensions made in Culiacán, a city known as the stronghold of the Sinaloa cartel, stem from this cooperative intelligence effort. Despite internal strife and violence within the cartel, it remains a major player in the production and exportation of drugs, including the controversial synthetic opioid, fentanyl.
“The aircraft help confirm information gathered by Mexican armed forces,” Trevilla explained, though he declined to disclose the identities of the arrested cartel members. He emphasized that U.S. personnel were not involved in the arrests. However, the recent announcements by Mexico’s head of public safety and security, Omar García Harfuch, revealed that “Wero Bryan” and Kevin Alonso—key figures linked to the Sinaloa cartel—were taken into custody.
The Chapitos, the sons of the notorious Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, are thought to lead the faction known as the Chapitos within the Sinaloa cartel.
Addressing concerns about surveillance practices, Trevilla clarified, “This is not the beginning of spying operations using unmanned drones,” and refuted any notion that these drone efforts were initiated under former President Donald Trump. Reports from CNN and the New York Times highlighted that the CIA has been utilizing MQ-9 Reaper drones to pinpoint fentanyl laboratories across Mexico.
These surveillance drones, while not armed for these operations, have a striking operational range of over 1,100 miles and the capability for air strikes if authorized. Trevilla assured the public that any support flights would only take place with the explicit request and consent of the Mexican Armed Forces. “It will be clear what route they’ll take and what information they are after,” he asserted.
In defense of this cross-border collaboration, Mexico’s Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero stated:
We have to gain information; we’re helping one another, and we’re conscious that we’re getting intelligence. It’s not spying; it’s technical and indispensable information.
