A remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper flies near the Syracuse Hancock International Airport on Dec. 16, 2015, and is similar to those the CIA is using to spy on Mexican drug cartels and fentanyl labs. Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force
Feb. 18 (UPI) — The CIA is deploying unmanned drones over Mexico to search for fentanyl labs run by drug cartels after the Trump administration declared cartels are terrorist organizations.
The CIA has been using MQ-9 Reaper drones as part of the Trump administration’s use of national security tools at the southern border with Mexico amid a fentanyl crisis, CNN, the Daily Mail and DNYUZ reported.
The drones are unarmed but could be armed as needed to conduct precision strikes on fentanyl labs and cartel activities if needed, CNN reported.
Declaring drug cartels to be terrorist organizations could enable the U.S. military to carry out strikes against the cartels and drug labs in Mexico, but the drones so far are not authorized for lethal strikes while conducting counter-narcotics missions, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told agents.
Stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States has made Mexican drug cartels and others that produce and traffic fentanyl in the United States a priority for the CIA, an agency official told CNN.
The fentanyl labs can be placed in rural or urban areas and release chemicals that drones can detect with their sensors.
Drones piloted by artificial intelligence also can surveil particular areas for extended periods while collecting information on cartel activities, including who enters and exits drug labs, when precursor materials arrive to make fentanyl and when the final product leaves the respective labs.
The information makes it possible to intercept drug shipments into the United States and raid particular drug labs when possible.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and other senior Mexican officials are aware of the drone flights and said they flights are occurring over international airspace over the border between Mexico and the United States and in U.S. airspace.
When CIA agents use the drones within Mexican airspace to collect intelligence on cartel activities, they share the drone footage with Mexican officials, the Daily Mail reported.
The CIA has completed more than two dozen drone flights near the border and has a team of 140 intelligence experts to analyze the surveillance footage.
Northern Command leader Gen. Gregory Guillot last week told members of the U.S. Senate the intelligence his team collects helps Mexican officials to “address cartel violence” by deploying more troops to the border.
Guillot said the drone surveillance operation has led to “rapid progress” in dealing with fentanyl trafficking in the United States.
U.S. officials have used drones to surveil cartel activities during the Biden administration, but the Mexican government often reacted slowly when given useful intelligence.
Mexican authorities eventually would use such intelligence to arrest cartel members, though.