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U.S. Military and CBP Use Laser System to Destroy Three Cartel Drones

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By Samantha Johnson / August 28, 2026

By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat

The U.S. military and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) used a “high energy laser system” to shoot down three drones flown by Mexican criminal groups which were flying near the Texas-Mexico border, according to a recent US Army press release.

According to the press release, the event occurred on the nights August 25 and 26, when U.S. soldiers used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser (AMP-HEL) system to defeat UAS which were determined to in “direct support of activities posing a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and CBP partners.”

The press release did not indicate exactly where the shoot down occurred. 

Drone use by Mexican criminal organizations is common across most of the U.S. Mexico border, typically being using for surveilling U.S. authorities and generally monitoring the region. So far, drones have not been used in combat against U.S. forces at the border like they are used against Mexican security forces in states like Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, and Guerrero. Most drone use in combat occurs in western and southern Mexico, however, attacks appear to be nearing the U.S. border. 

In February 2025, a video emerged of the Gulf Cartel factions Los Metros and Los Escorpiones fighting, with one faction deploying a drone dropped IED near Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas. In March 2026, when high ranking Metros officer Manuel González Carrizales was captured in Reynosa, security officials alleged that he played a role in coordinating attacks against security forces using drones in the “frontera chica,” a stretch of border towns west of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

Back in February 2026, Federal Aviation Administration closed air travel over Fort Hancock, Texas, when U.S. soldiers fired a high-energy laser on a drone which they assumed to be cartel related by actually turned out to be flown by CBP. 

Sources: Military Press Release, El Universal, Infobae, Borderland Beat


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