Mexico’s top military official confirmed that his forces have not shot down or intercepted a single cartel drone along its northern border after recently having announced a team-up effort with U.S. authorities. This as U.S. forces shot down more than 300 drones so far this year.

Earlier this month, Mexico announced the start of operation Aguila Alta (High Eagle), a joint operation between U.S. and Mexican authorities where they would share information and have each side work to intercept cartel drones. For the operation, Mexico’s Army revealed that they had deployed 800 troops in the western part of the border.

This week, Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, Mexico’s Secretary of the Army, revealed that his forces had not intercepted or shot down any cartel drones nor made any arrests during the operation. In his statement, Trevilla Trejo revealed that they have not seen an increase in drone usage on the northern Mexican border. He claimed that the drones used by cartels are commercially available drones and are primarily used by human smugglers for surveillance purposes in order to monitor the presence of U.S. Border Patrol agents along the border.

The military leader revealed that in the coming days his staff is expected to meet with U.S. law enforcement forces in order to update the operation. According to Trevilla Trejo, U.S. forces have been more successful in knocking down drones, with more than 300 drones intercepted so far this year.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected]. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].