Cartel drones drop explosives near southern border



A Mexican cartel is using drones to “drop explosives” on a rival gang near the Arizona southern border, the New York Post reported, citing a recently leaked bulletin.

The United States Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector Intelligence Unit released a bulletin on Tuesday warning about the recent cartel activity along the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the alert, members of Los Salazar, a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel, are using drones with explosives to attack Los Pelones, a rival cartel. The activity is part of an ongoing conflict between the two cartels in Sonoyta, Mexico, roughly two miles from the border.

“Other confrontations between these two organization[s] have occurred along the border, south of Wellton Stations area of operations in recent months,” the bulletin read. “Agents are reminded to take any necessary precautions if drones are encountered or obse[rved] and report that activity up their chain of command as soon as possible.”

In March, Air Force General Gregory Guillot told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, in his estimation, there are “over 1,000” drone incursions each month at the southern border, calling the number of encounters “alarming,” Blaze News previously reported. Guillot noted that no one knows the exact number of incursions but that it is “in the thousands.”

At the time, he told lawmakers, “I haven’t seen any of them manifest in a threat to the level of national defense, but I see the potential only growing.”

Cartel spotters typically use the drones to spot gaps in the border wall where they can sneak past law enforcement agents undetected. Guillot stated that some of the drones may be used to carry illicit drugs over the border.

Last year, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez told the House Oversight Committee that more than 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 sightings were reported over a one-year period.

“We have made great progress in countering the threat of small, unmanned platforms,” Chavez said. “However, the adversaries have 17 times the number of drones, twice the amount of flight hours, and unlimited funding to grow their operations.”

In 2023, Customs and Border Protection called human smugglers’ use of drone technology a “growing trend.”

The Associated Press recently reported that the Mexican army has stated that some of its soldiers have been killed by cartel drones dropping explosives.

Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval stated, “Our personnel have suffered wounds, and some of our troops have even died."

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Mexican cartels offer VIP smuggling packages to illegal aliens — $6,000 to $15,000 per person



Mexican cartels are offering VIP smuggling packages to foreign nationals seeking to cross into the United States illegally, USA Today recently reported.

Sources told the news outlet that the cartels are charging anywhere from $6,000 to $15,000 per person to smuggle individuals through a network of underground drainage tunnels that stretch from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas.

'Now 60 to 70% of their focus is migrant smuggling.'

The cartels' customers are given a code word that identifies which criminal organization they are traveling with to signal to local law enforcement and rival cartels not to harass the group.

La Linea, a cartel based in Juárez, has been smuggling at least 1,000 illegal aliens across the U.S. border through the tunnel system every month, a senior Mexican official told USA Today.

Arturo Velasco, head of the anti-kidnapping unit at the Chihuahua attorney general's office, told the news outlet, "Criminals have shifted from their primary business, which was drug trafficking."

"Now 60 to 70% of their focus is migrant smuggling," Velasco said. "A kilo of cocaine might bring in $1,500, but the risk is very high. The cost-benefit of trafficking a person is $10,000, $12,000, $15,000."

Ines Barrios de la O, an immigration specialist at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, stated, "Remittances in cities like Ciudad Juárez have doubled to nearly $90 million per trimester so far in 2024."

Oscar Hagelsieb, former assistant special agent in charge at the United States Homeland Security Investigations, told USA Today, "Corruption in Juárez, or in any other Mexican border city, must be in collusion with authorities."

Velasco added, "We know of federal law enforcement that traffic migrants. ... From inside shelters, they, along with officials from the National Institute of Migration, send information on people and then, outside, these people are abducted by criminal groups."

According to Velasco, some police officers kidnap migrants and hold them in safe houses until they can pay their smuggling dues to the cartel.

One smuggler told USA Today that law enforcement authorities also navigate the illegal aliens to the tunnels' entrances. He also claimed that for nearly $600 per person, officers provide cover for smugglers while they move the illegal immigrants into El Paso.

Art Del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, told NewsNation that the cartels' smuggling humans through the drainage system is "not something that's new."

"They use different types of social media. They have intel within the United States. They obviously have intel along the border," Del Cueto stated. "They charge different groups and families depending on the safest route or the easier one."

He explained that the smugglers are "willing to sacrifice" groups of illegal aliens who have paid less to create a diversion for those who have paid them more to get into the U.S.

"They'll get a group. They're separate them and say, 'Look, if you come across just turn yourself in. They're not going to send you back. Ask for asylum. You're going to get a free pass.' That allows these cartels to be able to pass other individuals through other areas," Del Cueto told NewsNation.

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US sanctions Mexican cartel leaders for drug trafficking, but Biden still won’t shut down the border



The United States Department of the Treasury announced on Thursday that it levied sanctions against eight leaders of a Mexican cartel, according to a department press release.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto that the individuals were affiliated with the La Nueva Familia Michoacana cartel, which has been involved in drug trafficking and human smuggling operations across the southern border. According to the department, the group has trafficked fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the U.S.

'Isn’t the better solution ... to just shut down the border – entirely?'

“La Nueva Familia Michoacana is one of the most powerful and violent cartels in Mexico and has become a priority focus of the Mexican government in recent years,” the press release from the Treasury Department read.

In addition to the sanctions, the department issued an advisory “to highlight critical new information to help U.S. banks and other financial institutions guard against activity associated with the illicit fentanyl supply chain.”

“The advisory includes new trends and red flags that can be indicators of activity associated with the procurement of precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment used for the synthesis of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids,” the press release added.

Yellen released a statement explaining that the opioid crisis, fueled by the cartel, has “devastated communities and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

“President Biden and I are committed to using every tool we have to target illicit fentanyl and its precursor chemicals so we can disrupt these deadly supply chains,” Yellen stated. “Treasury has unique capabilities and expertise to target the financial flows of these cartels who are poisoning our communities, and going after them is a top priority for me and the Department.”

During her Thursday interview with Cavuto, the Fox News anchor pressed Yellen on the Biden administration’s open border crisis.

“Isn’t the better solution, and maybe it addresses what you’re doing here, secretary, to just shut down the border – entirely?” Cavuto asked. “Just lock it down, that’s what Donald Trump wants to do. What do you say?”

Yellen avoided directly answering the question and replied, “Well, um, you know, my concern today is with, um, fentanyl trafficking, drug trafficking, and I’d say ...”

Cavuto interrupted Yellen and asked whether shutting down the southern border would solve her concerns about drug trafficking.

“Well, look, the most, the most impactful tool we have is, um, to put in place sophisticated drug detection equipment, and that’s what President Biden has done is, um, not to shut down the border entirely,” Yellen responded.

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Cartel leaves 8 bodies along migrant smuggling route with chilling warning to rival gang: ‘Chihuahua has an owner’



The bodies of eight unidentified males were recently discovered near El Paso along a notorious and heavily trafficked illegal migrant smuggling route, the El Paso Times reported.

The victims were left in a field alongside the Pan-American Highway, which connects Chihuahua City to Juárez. Authorities discovered the gruesome scene around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to the media outlet.

Police reported that the eight victims showed signs of torture, including multiple stab and gunshot wounds. Some of the victims also showed signs of asphyxia. According to authorities, no bullet casings were found at the scene.

A Juárez municipal news statement explained that the cartel members who perpetrated the murders nailed a chilling message to one of the bodies with a knife that read, “Chihuahua tiene dueño,” which translates to “Chihuahua has an owner.” The note aimed to serve as a warning to a rival human smuggling gang battling for control of the trafficking route.

Victor Avila, a retired agent for Homeland Security Investigations, told the New York Post that the area where the bodies were discovered is “one of the most coveted trafficking corridors from Mexico that exist.”

“Just a few years ago, the cartels never dealt with humans, not human trafficking or human smuggling. You had human trafficking organizations and human smuggling organizations that’s all they did, and the cartels did the drugs and other things,” Avila stated. “But that’s what has completely changed. The cartels saw the amount of potential money to be made with the human [smuggling], and they’ve now taken over.”

“These human trafficking organizations and human smuggling organizations now have been incorporated and answer to the cartels, and that’s where a lot of the struggle is because, yes, the cartels do want that money to be paid to them,” he continued.

Authorities found two more victims inside a vehicle located up the road. Police believe the separate discoveries are connected, but it is unclear whether the two victims were killed by a rival gang or by their own cartel.

State Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya told Border Report, “We found a burned vehicle [18 miles] to the north that could be related to this event. They used it to move the bodies.”

“We have a precedent of homicides committed in that area directly related to human trafficking,” he added.

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‘Over 1,000’ drone incursions per month at southern border — smugglers are ‘trying to find gaps’: Air Force general



Air Force General Gregory Guillot told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that there are “over 1,000” drone incursions per month at the southern border, the New York Post reported.

Guillot, the commander of North American Defense Command, called the uptick in drone encounters “alarming.”

“The number of incursions was something that was alarming to me as I took command last month,” he told senators on Thursday.

When asked how many drones are flying into United States airspace near the southern border, he replied that no one knows precisely.

“I don’t know the actual number. I don’t think anybody does, but it’s in the thousands,” Guillot continued.

He claimed that the United States Customs and Border Protection would “put the number at thousands” over approximately a one-month period.

“Probably have over 1,000 a month,” he declared.

Senators asked Guillot whether the incursions over the southern border presented a defense threat, and he responded, “They alarm me.”

“I haven’t seen any of them manifest in a threat to the level of national defense, but I see the potential only growing,” he said.

According to Guillot, most of the unmanned drones flying near the southern border are operated by “spotters” who are “trying to find gaps” to sneak past law enforcement agents.

“There’s a smaller number [of drones] that are probably moving narcotics across the border,” Guillot remarked.

He also noted that some of the drone activity at the southern border is the federal government attempting to monitor illegal activity.

During the hearing, Guillot addressed the influx of Chinese nationals illegally crossing into the United States, stating that it is “a big concern” of his.

“What concerns me most about specifically the Chinese migrants is, one, that they’re so centralized and in one location across on the border. And, two, is — while many may be political refugees and other explanations — the ability for counter intelligence to hide in plain sight in those numbers,” Guillot told the committee.

He also explained that he is concerned that the waves of migrants coming over the border “seem to be coordinated and command and controlled using social media.” Mexican cartels are using social media to “drive the migrants to areas where [Border Patrol agents] might not be,” he added.

CBP officials have noted that the cartels are using small drones to track the locations of Border Patrol agents in an effort to sneak their smuggling operations past law enforcement, the Post reported.

Last year, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez informed the House Oversight Committee that more than 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 drone sightings were reported over one year.

“We have made great progress in countering the threat of small, unmanned platforms,” Chavez stated. “However, the adversaries have 17 times the number of drones, twice the amount of flight hours, and unlimited funding to grow their operations.”

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Smuggling network with 'ISIS ties' is trafficking migrants across southern border, FBI says: 'Very dangerous threats'



Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday that there is a smuggling network with "ISIS ties" trafficking migrants into the United States, the New York Post reported.

In response to a question from Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Wray stated, "I want to be a little bit careful how far I can go in open session, but there is a particular network that, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we're very concerned about and that we've been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating."

"Exactly what that network is up to is something that's, again, the subject of our current investigation," he noted.

Wray acknowledged that "dangerous individuals" have entered the U.S. through the southern border.

"We are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border," Wray explained. "An awful lot of the violent crime in the United States is at the hands of gangs who are themselves involved in the distribution of that fentanyl."

He added that the FBI "seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people."

According to Wray, the threats against the nation have reached a "whole other level" since Hamas attacked Israel in October, ABC News reported.

"Even before October 7, I would have told this committee that we were at a heightened threat level from a terrorism perspective — in the sense that it's the first time I've seen in a long, long time," Wray continued. "The threats from homegrown violent extremists that is jihadist-inspired, extremists, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations, and state-sponsored terrorist organizations all being elevated at one time since October 7, though, that threat has gone to a whole other level. And so, this is a time, I think, for much greater vigilance, maybe been called upon us."

Wray told the committee that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are working together to investigate migrants whose travel may have been facilitated by overseas terrorist networks.

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked the FBI director whether terrorists could be among the 1.8 million "gotaways" who snuck into the country without being apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

Wray replied, "I think there are many ways the national security ramifications of the issues at the border are better reflected in some ways more by what we don't know about the people who snuck in, provided fake documents or in some other way, got in when there wasn't sufficient information about the time they came in to connect the dots."

Today @FBI confirmed they are very concerned about a migrant smuggling network at our border with ties to ISIS
— (@)

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‘Put A Pistol In Your Backpack’: Northern Border Residents On Edge Over Increased Migrant Traffic

'Border Patrol’s not usually around'

Rep. Chip Roy inconveniences CNN host with the truth after she defends the so-called border bill: 'There would be 4,999'



Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) delivered a much-needed reality check on Monday to those defending the Senate's so-called border bill.

One of the most contentious provisions of the bill is the migrant "encounters" threshold for a border "shutdown." Critics of the bill say the border would never close if the bill becomes law while permitting countless more migrants to enter the U.S. The bill's defenders, however, say that is false.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins asked Roy about the provision in a contentious interview on Monday, immediately trying to correct him when he didn't provide the answer she wanted.

"If this was in place right now, wouldn't the border be shut down, at this moment, based on this number of encounters that would launch that trigger to shut down the border?" Collins asked.

"No. In fact, what would happen is it would set sort of a de facto —" Roy began when Collins interjected.

"It would," she claimed.

"No. It would set sort of a de facto standard — right? — normalizing about 5,000 [migrants per day]," Roy shot back.

The major concern, Roy explained, is the Mexican cartels "are coordinating this all the time." He cited Eagle Pass, one of the epicenters of the border crisis. That section of border has cooled in recent days after receiving significant attention in the media. It has cooled, he explained, because the cartels — which control human smuggling routes — quickly adapt.

"What happens is the cartels — they look at it and they go, 'Oh, that ain't working there.' So guess where they're all going now? Arizona and California," Roy pointed out.

"If you set a standard of about 5,000, the cartels will go 'Ah, I get it. 4,999? You got it,'" he explained.

Collins, however, refused to accept Roy's explanation of why the migrant threshold is problematic and how the Mexican cartels will exploit it to ensure their human-smuggling business doesn't slow down.

The CNN host repeatedly told Roy, "It would shut it down."

"There would be 4,999," Roy argued.

Finally, Collins told Roy that the people who wrote the bill disagree with him, citing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). But that's not the full truth. Sen. Chris Murphy, the Democrat who helped co-author the bill, admitted the border "never fully closes" if the bill becomes law.

Roy Blasts Colleagues in Clash with Kaitlan Collins: ‘They Don’t Know What They’re Talking About’ www.youtube.com

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DACA Recipient Arrested On ‘Human Smuggling’ Charges

'This former DACA recipient no longer has those privileges'

'Agents observed multiple individuals emerging from a storm drain': Border Patrol foils human smuggling attempt, CBP reports



U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents have been foiling human smuggling attempts.

"In the last seven days alone, El Paso Sector agents have disrupted 23 human smuggling events leading to more than 104 smuggled migrants apprehended and the arrest of nine individuals with criminal backgrounds," a Janauary 12 press release noted.

One example involved people "emerging from a storm drain," according to CBP.

"On Jan. 5, agents assigned to the El Paso Station Anti-Smuggling Unit (ASU) disrupted a smuggling scheme encountering six smuggled migrants inside a SUV. Agents observed multiple individuals emerging from a storm drain near the Azcarate Park and then jumping into a vehicle. Agents subsequently performed an immigration stop locating the migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador, including one unaccompanied juvenile from Mexico. All migrants were medically evaluated and processed under Title 8 authority. The driver will face prosecution under 8 USC 1324 (Conspiracy to Transport), five subjects will face prosecution under 8 USC 1325 (Illegal Entry) and one individual under 8 USC 1326 (Reentry after Deportation)," CBP noted.

The press release comes the day after the Department of Homeland Security urged people to wear blue in a bid to increase awareness about human trafficking.

Conservatives have been calling for the Biden administration to secure the nation's southern border.

"By facilitating human trafficking, Biden brings in everything from terrorists to disease to lawlessness. Oh, and more than enough fentanyl to kill every single American. None of this would be possible if Biden weren’t all for it. So what’s in it for him?" Sen. Mike Lee of Utah tweeted.

Lee has announced that he is endorsing former President Donald Trump's White House bid. He made the announcement days before the Iowa Republican presidential caucus.

"I just endorsed Donald Trump. Whether you like Trump or not, Americans face a binary choice. Biden refuses to enforce our border, prosecutes his opponents, & embraces policies that make life unaffordable for hardworking Americans. I'll take the mean tweets. I choose Trump," Lee tweeted.

— (@)

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