EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The United States and Mexico have agreed to step-up intelligence sharing on the growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles by transnational criminal organizations.

The goal is to prevent or respond effectively to possible cartel drone attacks on the border. The issue came up at last week’s meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Security Implementation Group (SIG) in Mexico City.

“There was a topic of particular interest to the United States: The use of drones by criminals. This is something we had not previously discussed,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday. “(They asked) what Mexico is doing, what is it that we know. These are discussions that contribute to strengthen security on both sides of the border.”

Last February, a federal government agency warned that Mexican drug cartels authorized explosive drone attacks against U.S. law enforcement agents at the southern border. In 2024, the U.S. Northern Command’s top general told a Senate committee more than 1,000 drones were coming across the border from Mexico every month.

At the SIG meeting last Thursday, the two governments agreed to link intelligence analytics software as needed to identify drone threats. Sheinbaum emphasized this doesn’t mean the U.S. will have permanent access to Mexican security assets or will set up an anti-drone operation in Mexico.

She said Mexico has not documented extensive drone activity along the U.S. border. This, despite the well-documented Oct. 15 explosive drone attack on a government building in Tijuana.

“It is important to them, but not because of a specific case. We have not detected this on the border, but it is important to the United States and it is part of the communication we have,” the Mexican president said.

Cartels have used drones to attack rivals and intimidate villagers in Guerrero and Michoacan for allegedly cooperating with rival groups. Experts say the drones and their explosives aren’t very sophisticated but cartels continue to evolve in their use and tactics.

On Tuesday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies opined the United States needs to set up a Southwest “drone wall.”

“While Mexican criminal groups have yet to employ weaponized drones on U.S. territory, these unmanned aerial systems help cartels track border patrols, monitor U.S. forces, and deliver narcotics and other contraband,” CSIS Associate Fellow Henry Ziemer wrote. “Drones are a boon to these groups, allowing them to monitor wide swaths of territory and penetrate weak points along the land border.”

Ziemer called for the Department of Defense to use borderland military bases and zones to test anti-drone systems.

“The Southwest border can act as a testbed for prototypes to defend against real-world challenges,” he wrote.