Drug cartels, some of which the United States has designated as terrorist organizations, have long embraced technological innovation to outpace law enforcement and rivals. They pioneered semisubmersible boats equipped with Starlink to evade maritime patrols, built heavily armored “narco tanks” to storm enemy strongholds, and engineered sophisticated smuggling compartments hidden in tractor trailers. Their latest potential leap forward, however, is far more disruptive: the adoption of first-person view (FPV) drones. Taking a cue from Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, in which Kyiv has adapted high-speed racing platforms into one-way attack weapons, these cartels are twisting this lesson to their own purposes—not for defense but for drug smuggling, targeted murders, and other illicit activities.
In fact, emerging evidence suggests that Mexican cartel operatives may have traveled to Ukraine’s International Legion under false pretenses, seeking to gain direct combat experience with FPV tactics. If confirmed, this would suggest that cartel foot soldiers are training alongside some of the world’s most advanced practitioners of drone warfare, then transferring that knowledge back to Mexico and elsewhere. The potential implications for regional stability in the Americas—and for US homeland security—are profound.
Why Mexican cartels would look to Ukraine
According to the French outlet Intelligence Online, Mexican and Ukrainian intelligence services are investigating reports that Mexican nationals joined Ukraine’s International Legion not to fight Russia’s invasion but to study FPV drone operations. These “volunteers” allegedly sought assignment to specialized units where FPV tactics were evolving most rapidly, acquiring knowledge and techniques that could accelerate the cartels’ learning curve by a matter of years.
Mexico’s National Intelligence Center reportedly sent a memo to Ukraine’s counterintelligence service, the SBU, warning that Spanish-speaking volunteers in the International Legion were deliberately targeting FPV training. The memo expressed concern that cartel-linked operatives were embedding within semi-clandestine International Legion units along the frontlines, such as Ethos, which has tested FPVs in large numbers. Some investigations have even extended to the possible involvement of non-Mexican actors, including individuals linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.
Ukraine’s International Legion was created as a noble effort to harness global solidarity against Russia’s invasion. Yet its open recruitment policy also created opportunities for malign actors to exploit the war as a proving ground. For Mexican cartels, whose drone programs have historically lagged global innovators by five to ten years, this represents a chance to leapfrog directly to the cutting edge.
FPV drones are rapidly evolving
The Ukrainian battlefield has become a laboratory for drone warfare. At the outset of the war, Kyiv received small batches of manufactured loitering munitions, such as the US-supplied Switchblade. But these systems proved expensive, limited in scale, and vulnerable to Russian electronic warfare. Ukrainian innovators quickly pivoted to commercially available FPVs, originally designed for high-speed drone racing.
The advantages of FPVs immediately became clear. They’re cheap—often under four hundred dollars per unit—highly maneuverable, and easily assembled from off-the-shelf parts. They can carry small explosive payloads with precision. And operating them only requires a level of dexterity that can be honed through widely available flight simulators. What began as improvisation soon evolved into industrial-scale production lines, backed by a global supply chain of parts and volunteer networks.
In the past three years, Ukrainian FPV tactics have advanced rapidly. Operators have integrated octocopters as airborne relays, extending control ranges by serving as signal repeaters. Artificial intelligence has been layered in, allowing FPVs to lock onto targets even when communications are jammed. More recently, Ukrainian units have deployed drones tethered with fiber optic spools, enabling secure, jam-resistant operations deep into contested environments.
This rapid cycle of innovation has created what military analysts call a “co-evolutionary dance” between Ukraine and Russia—new FPV tactics prompting new countermeasures, which in turn spur further adaptation. For outside observers, however, the key lesson is clear: These technologies are transferable, scalable, and relatively easy to learn. What takes years for militaries to institutionalize can be picked up in weeks by dedicated operators with access to training.
How cartels are using FPVs
For Mexican cartels, FPVs offer an ideal combination of affordability, lethality, and deniability. They can be assembled discreetly, launched from improvised sites, and targeted with extraordinary precision. In cartel-on-cartel warfare, FPVs might be capable of striking high-value targets inside fortified compounds, which previously required costly and high-risk raids. Cartels already have experience experimenting with drones. Roughly five years ago, some began dropping grenades and small improvised munitions from commercial quadcopters, many years after the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, pioneered the tactic in Syria. These systems were crude and limited. FPVs, by contrast, bring maneuverability and standoff capability that could tilt the balance of power in ongoing conflicts.
There are already signs that cartels are adapting their FPV tactics. In their long-running arms race, the Sinaloa cartel and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación are reportedly testing FPVs in west-central Mexico. Videos have surfaced online of FPV attacks depicting targeted strikes. In anticipation, some cartel “narco-tanks” have been modified with protective cages to ward off drone strikes—eerily echoing the battlefield adaptations of Russian and Ukrainian forces.
The danger is not confined to cartel rivalries. Should US policy escalate to commonplace kinetic strikes against cartels—a possibility the Trump administration acted on recently—FPVs could quickly be redirected toward US personnel and infrastructure. Border patrols, forward operating bases, or even critical nodes in urban environments could become vulnerable to swarm attacks.
How the US can adapt to drone proliferation
Nonstate actors can now acquire capabilities once reserved for nation-states. Cartels are no longer merely criminal syndicates; they increasingly resemble hybrid entities blending organized crime, paramilitary force, and terrorist tactics.
The United States and its partners cannot afford to treat cartel drone experimentation as a distant curiosity. The risk trajectory is clear: What begins as opportunistic adoption can quickly harden into doctrine. In response, the United States should take several steps to combat this threat:
- Enhance intelligence cooperation. Washington should strengthen trilateral intelligence sharing with Mexico and Ukraine, focusing on the movement of personnel and technology linked to FPVs. Early identification of operatives seeking training abroad is critical.
- Invest in counter-drone defenses. US Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security, and Mexican security forces need access to the latest counter-drone technologies. This includes directed-energy weapons, jamming tools, and radar systems scaled to detect small, low-flying craft.
- Disrupt supply chains. While FPV parts are commercially available, targeted export controls and monitoring could slow bulk acquisition by malign actors. Cooperation with private manufacturers is essential.
- Reframe cartels as hybrid threats. US strategy must continue to evolve beyond treating cartels as criminal and terrorist organizations, instead combating them as “narco-multinational corporations” (narco-MNC). Their adoption of military-grade tactics—combined with terrorist-style violence—demands a whole-of-government approach that blends law enforcement, defense, and intelligence tools.
- Plan for FPV attacks on the US-Mexico border. Scenarios involving FPV swarm attacks on border facilities should be integrated into homeland security through Multi-National, and Multi-Agency exercises. Waiting until the first operational use against US targets would be too late.
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This is a brave new world where a disposable drone can checkmate a $24 million tank. In Ukraine, FPVs have bought time against Russia’s advance. In Mexico, their adoption by cartels could accelerate violence, destabilize regions, and threaten US border security.
The question is not whether cartels, or narco-MNCs, will experiment with FPVs—they already are. The question is how quickly the United States and its partners can adapt, anticipate, and counter this emerging threat. The diffusion of FPV technology underscores a sobering reality: the democratization of military power is no longer hypothetical. It is unfolding now, with profound consequences for security from Kyiv to Mexico City to Washington.
Now is the time for the United States to defend against the growing threat that the democratization of drone warfare poses to its southern border.
Stephen Honan is a fellow with the ’s Counterterrorism Project, a senior consultant for BVG and Company, and a former explosive ordnance disposal officer for the US Navy.
Image: A Ukrainian soldier performs a trial with an FPV drone in the region of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 19, 2025. (Photo by Alfons Cabrera/NurPhoto) via Reuters Connect
