(NewsNation) — The Jalisco New Generation cartel has created a specialized drone unit where members are trained to turn commercial drones into flying bombs to be used against rival cartels and Mexican authorities, according to a report from the Daily Beast.
This elite drone unit is trained to find and attack rival cartels like the Los Viagras cartel in Michoacan and the Sinaloa cartel in Jalisco, a cartel drone operator told the Daily Beast.
The unit, allegedly composed of a dozen men currently only operating in the states of Michoacan and Jalisco, started training in 2021 and officially started operating this year.
Members of the unit also have their own patch to distinguish themselves among the ranks of members of Jalisco New Generation. The patch is an image of a quadcopter drone with a skull at the center.
A cartel source tells the Daily Beast that an American man and a Colombian man showed the cartel how to source, fly, and detonate a commercial drone.
Since 2021, the Mexican army has seized 23 weaponized drones in Michoacan, Guerrero and Jalisco. These states see a lot of activity from the Jalisco New Generation.
This comes as Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador has sent a drafted decree to the Mexican Senate to increase prison time for those using drones to attack other cartels or Mexican law enforcement.
Obrador has also submitted a new legislative proposal that would equip Mexican law enforcement with anti-drone technology to combat cartel drones.
The U.S. State Department recently issued an updated travel advisory for Mexico, advising Americans to avoid parts of the country due to ongoing cartel violence.
“Violent crime—such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery—is widespread and common in Mexico,” the State Department advisory reads, “The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by US government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted.”
This new warning comes as video footage released by the Jalisco New Generation showed five Mexican college students being brutally murdered.