Mexican drug smugglers are using a more advanced way to transport their product into the United States: drones. Tijuana police said that a drone that crashed into a supermarket parking lot Tuesday night near the San Ysidro crossing was chock-full of illicit methamphetamine.
Police found over six pounds of methamphetamine taped to the drone, a six-propeller remote-controlled aircraft. Tijuana police spokesman Jorge Morrua said police are attempting to find who controlled the flight and where they were situated. He also said police have seen drones carry drugs before, as well as catapults, ultralight aircraft and tunnels.
Using drones to transport drugs is not just a Mexican phenomenon; last April, a drone filled with cellphones, marijuana and tobacco crashed near a South Carolina prison. Mexican cartels have been suspected of trying to use drones as far back as 2010, the Americas Post reported:
The Public Security Secretariat (SSP) of Mexico announced yesterday that the cartels have adopted a new way of sending cocaine to the U.S.: by ultralight unmmaned planes. Each plane weighs about one hundred pounds and can carry a hundred kilograms of drugs. According to Francisco González, Undersecretary of SSP , the cartels now have this new technology using planes powered by an ultralight engine. The drones are very cost effective, very economical and cannot be detected by radars. Also, have the ability to land on vacant lots or any possible field clearing.
Gonzales also pointed out that the cocaine sold for $ 1700 in Colombia, meaning that every flight produced $2 million for the Mexican drug traffickers.
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