Mexican drug cartels have been evolving their tactics for decades.
But their latest innovation caught even seasoned law enforcement off guard.
And a Texas sheriff exposed one terrifying cartel weapon that has border towns on high alert.
Cartels deploy advanced drone technology to bypass border security
The drug cartels operating south of the U.S. border have always been ruthless and innovative.
But their latest technological advancement represents a quantum leap in their ability to smuggle drugs and people into America.
Sheriff Roy Boyd of Goliad County, Texas, recently revealed the shocking scope of cartel drone operations during an appearance on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Weekend."
The numbers he shared will leave Americans stunned by the scale of this aerial invasion.
"We were having over 10,000 drone incursions from the cartel every month while the Biden administration was in office, so they’ve been investing in technology heavily in order to ensure their profit margin is kept," Boyd said.¹
That’s more than 300 drone flights per day crossing into American airspace.
Each flight represented a potential drug delivery, reconnaissance mission, or human trafficking operation that Biden’s border officials were powerless to stop.
The cartels invested heavily in this technology because it guaranteed their profit margins remained intact even as traditional smuggling routes faced increased scrutiny.
Cartels turn American skies into drug superhighway
What Sheriff Boyd revealed next will shock anyone who thinks they understand the border crisis.
Some of these military-grade aircraft can carry loads of up to 500 kilos – that’s 1,200 pounds of deadly drugs per flight.
"We’ve seen footage of these drones dropping off packages of drugs in the state of Texas over the last four years," Boyd said.²
The cartels have turned America’s skies into their personal highway system for drug distribution.
They don’t even take direct routes to avoid detection.
Boyd explained that cartels will fly their drones "out over the Gulf and dropping back in to leave drugs on the Padre Island National Seashore, where there’s almost nobody down there during the day."³
This reveals a level of tactical planning that would make military strategists take notice.
The cartels are conducting sophisticated aerial operations with multiple waypoints, using America’s own geography against border security efforts.
Trump administration fights back with military precision
The contrast between the Biden and Trump administrations’ responses to this drone threat couldn’t be more stark.
Under Biden, these 10,000 monthly incursions went largely unchallenged.
Border Patrol agents were left to watch helplessly as drugs rained down from the sky across Texas.
But Sheriff Boyd noted that everything changed once President Trump returned to office.
"Now, with the Trump administration deploying the Department of Defense to take control of the skies, drone incursions are reducing greatly," said Boyd.⁴
Trump understands that this isn’t just a border security issue – it’s asymmetrical warfare.
"I think the administration is taking the necessary steps to secure us from those technological threats, but we’re going to have to keep advancing because this is asymmetrical," he said. "Warfare is what it is, and it always has been. But we finally have a president who understands asymmetrical warfare, and we’re no longer going to conduct our operations in a linear fashion."⁵
The Trump administration is treating cartel drone operations with the seriousness they deserve.
By deploying military assets to secure American airspace, Trump is sending a clear message that the days of unopposed aerial drug trafficking are over.
Cartels adapt like water, but Trump is ready
Sheriff Boyd used a vivid analogy to describe how cartels operate.
"You have to look at the cartels like water," said Boyd on Newsmax’s "Wake Up America Weekend." "They’re always going to come up with a new path to get where they need to go. And so with these new unmanned semi-submersible watercraft that they have, they have the capacity to bring folks to the Gulf of America. We’ve seen that through some of our investigations, thanks to the efforts of the men and women of Border Patrol, sealing off the river and the land border."⁶
This adaptability explains why cartels have now shifted to using unmanned semi-submersible watercraft to circumvent Trump’s border security measures.
They’re also moving operations to bring people through the Gulf of Mexico into states like Florida and Alabama.
But Trump’s comprehensive approach is already showing results.
The recent briefing Boyd received from Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley revealed the stunning scope of the problem during Biden’s tenure.
In just one three-month period, in that sector alone, "they had over 35,000 incursions into the state of Texas."⁷
That’s nearly 400 illegal drone flights per day in a single border sector.
The scale of this aerial invasion during the Biden years represents one of the most serious national security failures in American history.
Sheriff Boyd’s revelations expose how Mexican cartels turned American skies into their personal drug highway while Biden looked the other way.
But with Trump back in the White House and the Department of Defense taking control of border airspace, the era of unopposed cartel drone operations is coming to an end.
The cartels may adapt like water, but they’re about to learn that Trump’s border security measures are built like a dam.
¹ Sandy Fitzgerald, "Sheriff Roy Boyd to Newsmax: Cartels Shifting Methods With Trump in Office," Newsmax, July 27, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
