Three Mexican drug cartel drones near the U.S.-Mexico border were shot down using a military laser in the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, U.S. officials reported on Thursday. The military action unfolded between late Tuesday and early Wednesday and used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser, according to a joint statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Details on the precise location of the strikes remain undisclosed, and officials have not said whether the engagement occurred over U.S. or Mexican territory.
Any unilateral military action on Mexican soil would represent a grave breach of her country's sovereignty, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously stated. The military stated that the drones presented "a physical threat" to U.S. military and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.
"Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human smuggling and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners," Major General Curtis Taylor, the commander of Joint Task Force–Southern Border, said in a statement. President Donald Trump's administration seeks to clamp down on immigration and cartels, aiming to fulfill promises from his 2024 presidential campaign. Since its establishment in 2025, the border task force has conducted tens of thousands of detection and monitoring patrols, along with thousands of observation flights.
While the military did not specify the laser system's manufacturer, AeroVironment Inc delivered its first two multi-purpose high-energy lasers to the U.S. Army has previously deployed AeroVironment Inc's LOCUST system, a deployment that led to a seven-hour airspace shutdown near Texas' El Paso International Airport earlier this year. In February, a laser-based anti-drone system accidentally shot down a U.S. government drone, congressional aides disclosed at the time.
U.S. security officials have expressed concern about the use of drones by Mexican cartels, which mostly employ crudely adapted versions of off-the-shelf models to drop drug packages or surveil trafficking routes. In parts of Mexico farther from the U.S. border, cartels have used drones to drop explosives in deadly attacks. U.S. and Mexican authorities are working together to combat the rise of drones in the border region.
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