Mexican cartels using drones to expand and enhance their arsenals

Mexican cartels, pressured by intensified military operations and fierce competition among rival groups, are continuously seeking to expand their firepower and refine their operational tactics. As these cartels adopt modern warfare techniques, observed in global conflict zones such as Ukraine, the Mexican army faces increasing pressure to advance its own capabilities to effectively counter these threats. This Situation Report examines the advancing capabilities of Mexican cartel weaponry alongside the growing integration of drones into their arsenal.

Mexican cartels: An already capable arsenal

Mexico data captured in METIS for the last four months shows that more than 70% of recorded events fall under the category of SAA (Small Arms Ammunition). The second largest category, “Other Method of Attack (Other MoA),” represents 15% of overall events. This category includes  weapons such as bladed weapons and Molotov cocktails, which do not align with the other munition categories.

Mexican cartels are known to employ a wide range of small arms, from pistols and assault rifles to heavy machine guns (HMGs). These weapons are routinely seized by Mexican authorities. METIS data from the past four months shows that the top five most commonly seen munitions are all small arms ammunition.

7.62x39	5.56x45	50 Browning

While small arms make up a significant portion of the arsenals used by Mexican cartels, other munition types—including hand and projected grenades, mortar bombs, improvised air-dropped munitions, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—also constitute an important part of their firepower. This likely still does not represent the full extent of weaponry available to these groups.

M49A2 60 mm A.E.	40 mm GAEDP	M26M
OSINT recorded in METIS on 12 Aug 2025: Seizure in La Huerta, Zacapu, Michoacán: National Guard seizes mortar shells, tactical vests, and a motorcycle.	OSINT recorded in METIS on 14 Jun 2025: Mexican Army personnel located and seized a significant arsenal of firearms, grenades, magazines, and ammunition.	OSINT recorded in METIS on 09 Jun 2025: CULIACÁN. The federal authorities carried out confiscations of weapons, tactical equipment and drugs

Surge in cartel drone use: How Mexican cartels are deploying drones

As with much of the world, Mexico is seeing an increase in the use of drones (a.k.a. uncrewed aerial vehicles [UAVs]) as weapons in conflict. Cartels are increasingly using drones, not only for the transport of drugs within and out of Mexico, but also to conduct assassinations and target rival groups.

Colombian mercenaries with combat experience abroad, especially in Ukraine, are increasingly hired by cartels to transfer their expertise. Reports indicate that some Mexican cartel members have volunteered with the Ukrainian International Legion to gain drone training in active combat settings. Cartels have been observed combining the use of ‘improvised explosive devices, trenches and earthworks, armored vehicles, and drones to shape opposing forces and attack from multiple vectors simultaneously’, exhibiting a more strategic approach to warfare.

Cartel drones are a mix of one-way attack (OWA) first-person view (FPV) drones and carrier drones (i.e. those that carry and drop a munition on a target and return).  More can be seen on OWA FPV drones in our earlier blog post. Mexican cartels appear to typically manufacture IEDs for use as improvised air-dropped munitions, or as warheads on OWA FPV drones. It is believed that the explosive fills will be a mix of low-grade commercial blasting explosives, and high-grade military explosives scavenged from other munitions or unlawfully acquired. The improvised nature of the design and explosive fill creates a level of uncertainty of the capability and safety of these munitions. Modified conventional munitions such as grenades and mortar bombs may also be used as drone-dropped munitions or OWA FPV drone warheads.

First-person view one-way attack drone	Improvised air-dropped munitions
OSINT recorded in METIS on 10 Jul 2025 OWA FPV drones are now being used by cartels, an unexploded drone was found in Coxquihui, Veracruz.	OSINT recorded in METIS on 07 Jul 2025 Shocking discovery in Navolato, Sinaloa: a vehicle with explosives, weapons and drones was secured after a routine inspection.

The use of fibre-optic OWA FPV drones has been discussed in our earlier blog post, but does raise some significant security concerns due to the inherent anti-jamming effect, significantly enhanced range and higher video quality. The introduction of fibre optic drones would counter non-kinetic drone defences.

The use of drones is clearly of concern to Mexican cartels themselves, who routinely use them to target rivals. There is evidence of cope cages being fitted to cartel vehicles. These vehicles are typically SUVs that may have additional armour and/or an HMG fitted. The cope cage is an effort to protect against drone-dropped munitions and OWA FPV drones attacking at a high angle.

Conclusion

There are several concerns regarding these highly militaristic groups. Firstly is the regular occurrence of engagements between rival cartels, in which civilians can easily become collateral damage, especially with the powerful weaponry available. Mexican authorities can be outgunned in engagements, or have to employ heavy-handed responses during any direct confrontation.

Secondly is the increased use of cartel drones, both within and outside of Mexico. The proliferation of drones throughout other areas of the world will also likely occur within Mexico itself. These are highly likely to increase in their use, due to their comparatively low cost and high availability, easily expanding the ability to deploy air-dropped and guided munitions with comparatively low associated costs. It is likely that the development of munitions will favour OWA and drone-dropped designs, and provide the drive for counter-drone defences, such as the already introduced cope cages, to be more widely introduced.

Developments of drone tactics and technology, such as fibre-optic control, drastically increase the range of and counter non-kinetic drone defences, such as jamming, creating significant complications in protecting against this highly potent threat.

Drone attacks on cartel members within Mexico are already known to have occurred, however with reports of large numbers of drones being used to transport drugs into the US, a greater concern is the use of drones to target cartels within the US. Counter-proliferation efforts are likely to be ineffective, due to the mass commercial availability of drones, meanwhile drone defences are still in their relative infancy and are already countered on several fronts.

The rise of drone usage by Mexican cartels should be of great concern. However, lessons learned from other conflict zones, such as Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa and others can be used to predict and prepare for the development and deployment of this capability.

If you have any questions or want to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to reach out.