A laser system was used to shoot down three drug cartel drones in southern Texas, close to the Mexican border, the U.S. military said on Aug. 27.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, in a joint statement, said an Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) was used overnight on Aug. 25–26 in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) deemed the three drones to be hostile and posing a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and their partners in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of JTF-SB, said the successful operation against the drones was a testament to the readiness, vigilance, and technological edge of his force.
US Will ‘Not Tolerate Hostile Surveillance’
“Cartel networks are increasingly employing unmanned aircraft systems to facilitate illicit human-smuggling and actively spy on our personnel and law enforcement partners,” Taylor said. “By integrating layered countermeasures alongside advanced directed-energy capabilities like this laser system, we have made it clear that we will not tolerate hostile surveillance.”
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Ammon Blair, a former U.S.Border Patrol agent and senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Secure & Sovereign Texas Initiative, told The Epoch Times in March 2025 that he recalled hearing cartel-operated drones overhead while working along the Texas border.
“You‘d be running, and you’d have a drone right above your head and tracking every move you made,” Blair said at the time.
In February, the airspace around El Paso International Airport was closed for 7 hours for “special security reasons.”
The White House told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement at the time that Mexican cartel-operated drones had breached U.S. airspace and that the Department of War took action to disable them.
In other parts of Mexico, cartels have used drones to drop explosives in deadly attacks, but there is no suggestion the drones in the Texas incident were armed.
U.S. soldiers monitor a known border crossing point along the Rio Grande River in Brownsville, Texas, on Feb. 25, 2025. Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Sveen/U.S. Army
In the Ukraine conflict, both Moscow and Kyiv have been using armed drones to target enemy infantry personnel and, allegedly, citizens.
In the statement, the military said 8,000 service personnel were deployed across 1,954 miles as part of JTF-SB.
Taylor said he appreciated the support of the Mexican army and said they were working together to combat the cartels in the border area.
Commander Vows to Disrupt Cartels
“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our CBP partners to secure this border, protect our service members, and disrupt these criminal organizations at every turn,” Taylor said.
The military did not specify the details of the weapon used, but in August 2025, AeroVironment Inc., a company based in Arlington, Virginia, announced it had delivered two laser weapon systems to the Army as part of the “first increment of the Army Multi-Purpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) prototyping effort.”
It said the AMP-HEL prototype systems featured the company’s LOCUST laser weapons systems integrated on a General Motors Defense Infantry Squad Vehicle.
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken an aggressive stance toward narcotics cartels since he returned to the White House in January 2025.
On Jan. 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order designating several groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), as foreign terrorist organizations.
Ioan Grillo, a Mexico-based journalist and author of several books, including “El Narco, The Bloody Rise of Mexican Drug Cartels,” told The Epoch Times in February 2025 that the designation would have significant ramifications.
“As for the legal implications, it redefines the battle and could be used in justification of other things such as military actions, as were used against al-Qaeda in Pakistan,” he said.
At the time, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth refused to rule out the possibility of carrying out military strikes on cartels inside Mexico.
“All options will be on the table if we’re dealing with what are designated to be foreign terrorist organizations who are specifically targeting Americans on our border,” Hegseth said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously said any U.S. military action on Mexican soil would be a breach of her country’s sovereignty.
Mexican cartels are known to import weapons and may be buying drones from abroad.
Earlier this month, four people allegedly affiliated with CJNG were indicted by the United States after being arrested in the Czech Republic in June, where they are alleged to have traveled to buy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar launchers, and accompanying ammunition and ordnance.
Reuters contributed to this report.
