Mexican Cartels Export Ukraine’s Drone Warfare to Guatemala
<p>Ukrainian drone tactics have reached Guatemala via Mexican cartels, marking a “technological leap” in the capabilities of organized crime, experts warn.</p>
Roman Gressier Víctor Peña
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Drones, unmanned aerial vehicles used for years to conduct remote surveillance operations, have become indispensable weapons, reshaping battlefields from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the Israeli assault on Gaza and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. In the latter case, devices costing no more than $50,000 each have brought a fifth of the world’s oil supply to a grinding halt.
In the photo, a First-Persion View (FPV) drone simulates an attack as Ukrainian recruits complete their basic military training for the Ukrainian Ground Forces at an undisclosed location on March 25, 2026.
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Meanwhile, in the Americas, drone warfare is driving a “tactical leap” in the capabilities of armed groups, according to Dulce Torres, a researcher at the Seminar on Violence and Peace at El Colegio de México (Colmex), as reported by EFE. Guatemala’s official newspaper, the Diario de Centroamérica, picked up her statements.
According to Torres, drones are causing forced displacement of rural communities in Mexico, “completely” changing the fight against drug trafficking amid growing regional pressure from the Donald Trump administration. In February 2025, the United States designated six Mexican cartels, including Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa, as terrorist organizations.
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While criminal groups in Mexico have been using drones for at least a decade, a recent study by the Brookings Institution notes that Mexican cartels are replicating tactics from Ukraine, attaching explosives to drones to carry out bombings for “assassinations, intimidation, and population control.”
Mexican organized crime has for many years waged turf wars in Guatemala. In recent months, Guatemala’s National Civil Police has reported drug cartel incursions in Huehuetenango and San Marcos, departments bordering Mexico. “Even with drones; they use them as kamikazes,” said Police Director David Boteo in December.
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The latest public flare-up occurred on March 30, when the Army, Police, and Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an operation in Huehuetenango to locate “leaders of a Mexican cartel,” according to Prensa Libre. They seized high-caliber weapons “for the exclusive use of the Army” and shot down a drone that was surveilling the authorities.