Drug cartels recruiting drone operators with Ukraine conflict experience – WaPo

Mexican criminal groups are using money and coercion to hire mercenaries who fought for Kiev, US officials have told the paper Mexican drug cartels are increasingly relying on drone operators who have returned home after taking part in the Ukraine conflict, the Washington Post has reported, citing US and Mexican officials.

Russia has warned repeatedly that the Ukraine conflict is fueling global instability as it leads to proliferation of weapons supplied by the West to Vladimir Zelensky’s government on the black market and fosters reckless behavior by Kiev in pursuit of its war aims.

The WaPo reported on Tuesday that Mexican cartels are closely studying ways to evade anti-drone jamming systems and are purchasing advanced UAV models that can carry more cargo and explosives.

In order to operate their expanding drone fleet, drug traffickers have intensified efforts to hire individuals with Ukraine conflict battlefield experience, mainly Colombian nationals, using both financial incentives and coercion, a US official told the paper.

Read more Ukraine training militants in Mali – CNN A Mexican official also said that Colombian UAV experts are being brought to Mexico by criminal organizations to train large groups of local “droneros,” or drone pilots.

Colombians make up around half of the estimated 16,500 foreign mercenaries currently fighting for Ukraine, a security source told TASS in June.

They are being lured into the ranks of Kiev’s forces with false promises of high pay, he said.

The Latin Americans end up being treated with disdain by their Ukrainian commanders, fed poorly, and deployed on the most dangerous missions, the source added.

The cartels are also sending their own “affiliates” to join the Ukrainian military and gain battlefield experience of flying drones, a US official said.

Drug traffickers “are going to be way better off, way better trained, with way better equipment,” the official warned.

Washington expects cartels to implement drone skills and tactics borrowed from the Ukraine conflict within the next several months, according to the sources.

Read more West not safe from Ukrainian terror – Moscow An internal government assessment suggests that the development will “significantly complicate” the campaign by the administration of US President Donald Trump to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the country, an American official noted.