Mexico, U.S. counter cartel drones in Tijuana-San Diego corridor

U.S. forces neutralized over 300 unauthorized drones along border in 2026

Mexico and the United States have deployed fixed and mobile counter-drone systems along the Tijuana-San Diego border corridor to detect and disable commercial drones used by criminal organizations, Mexico’s Defense Secretariat said. The bilateral operation, named Águila Alta, began Aug. 31 and will continue through Sept. 21, with the Mexican government announcing the start of the operation’s second, operational phase on Monday.

The second phase places personnel along the international boundary with fixed and mobile counter-drone equipment, according to Semanario ZETA, a Tijuana news outlet. Authorities said criminal groups use commercially available drones to monitor the locations and movements of security forces while trafficking drugs and people across the border.

The operation follows a “mirror” arrangement under which Mexican and U.S. forces carry out simultaneous activities on their respective sides of the border, the Defense Secretariat said. The secretariat said the arrangement protects each country’s sovereignty while allowing the two governments to coordinate surveillance and enforcement.

The first phase ran from Aug. 31 through Sept. 2 and focused on coordinating responses to drone activity, concluding with simultaneous ground reconnaissance patrols to establish the operational area on each side of the border. The Defense Secretariat did not disclose how many personnel or counter-drone systems are involved, identify the participating U.S. agencies, or report whether any aircraft have been disabled during the Tijuana-San Diego operation.

Águila Alta is being conducted under the Mexico-United States Bilateral Implementation Group. A similar operation took place from March 17 through March 31 along the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso border corridor.

The latest deployment comes as the United States expands its response to drone activity linked to criminal groups along the nearly 2,000-mile southern border. The U.S. military said its Joint Task Force-Southern Border used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser, or AMP-HEL, to disable three drones during the nights of Aug. 25 and 26. U.S. officials classified the aircraft as hostile because they were supporting activities that posed a physical threat to military personnel and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

“Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human-smuggling and actively spy on our personnel,” task force commander Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor said.

U.S. forces have neutralized more than 300 unauthorized drones along the border during 2026, including more than 100 in August, using kinetic and nonkinetic systems. The U.S. Army also awarded a $13.8 million contract in June to expand drone detection and mitigation capabilities in Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Military officials estimated that as many as 1,000 cartel-operated drones cross the border each month for surveillance and drug-smuggling operations.