--- description: A drone crashed in Mexico with 6 lb. of meth title: Drones May Soon Have a New Customer: Drug Cartels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b872019fccac107/69877b3ce53aba559a4d72bc/drone-meth.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Drugs](/tag/drugs/) ## Drugs Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Drones May Soon Have a New Customer: Drug Cartels by [Eliza Gray](/author/eliza-gray/) ## Eliza Gray Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 22, 2015 10:19 PM CUT  A drone loaded with packages containing methamphetamine lies on the ground after it crashed into a supermarket parking lot in the Mexican city of Tijuana on Jan. 20, 2015 A drone loaded with packages containing methamphetamine lies on the ground after it crashed into a supermarket parking lot in the Mexican city of Tijuana on Jan. 20, 2015AP by [Eliza Gray](/author/eliza-gray/) ## Eliza Gray Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 22, 2015 10:19 PM CUT A drone carrying 6.6 lb. of methamphetamine that [crashed in a supermarket parking lot](http://time.com/3678147/drone-meth-mexico/ "undefined") in Mexico close to the California border this week probably doesn’t signify a popular new method for transporting drugs, U.S. officials say. But it’s a reminder that cartels can use the increasingly popular aircraft just like any other business or government agency. It wasn’t the first time drones have been used to smuggle drugs across the border. U.S. authorities who speak to TIME say they haven’t noticed a trend of cartels using drones. Carlos Lazo, a spokesman with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, calls it “an isolated incident.” But Matthew Barden, a special agent and spokesman with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, says authorities are always on guard for new cartel methods and that drones might appeal to traffickers for a number of reasons. The most likely, Barden says, would be surveillance, not transportation. “They can be used to spy on border agents doing rounds,” Barden says, speaking about the issue generally but not the latest incident. “People can use them to set up an ambush.” ### Drone Country: See America From Above  House boats appear next to the shoreline of Bidwell Canyon on Lake Oroville in Northern California on November 25, 2014\. Lake Oroville is California's second largest reservoir, and is currently 70% empty as a result of the state's severe drought. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  Campers appear in an RV park in Fernley, Nevada on November 25, 2014\. The nearby Amazon Fulfillment Center recruits people living out of RVs to work on the floor of their warehouse during peak holiday shipping season. Many of the campers are senior citizens whose homes or savings were wiped out by the 2008 economic crisis. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A parking lot for an Amazon fulfillment center appears in New Jersey on November 11, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  A residential apartment complex appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Vacation homes appear on the New Jersey Shore on November 11, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  An empty drive-in movie theater appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  A farm house and field appear outside Trenton, New Jersey on November 11, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Cows gather for water and alfalfa distributed by a rancher in a drought-devastated pasture in Merced County, California on November 26, 2014\. As with many areas of the Central Valley of California, these cows would not be able to survive without this kind of supplemental nutrition. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A run-down neighborhood appears in North Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014\. In 2012, the FBI ranked Camden as having the most violent crime per capita of any American city with a population of over 50,000\. The local police installed millions of dollars of surveillance equipment in residential neighborhoods, including cameras and microphones that detect the exact location of gunshots. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  Horse stalls appear near Fernley, Nevada on November 24, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A swamp appears near Brookfield, Connecticut on November 8, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Beachfront vacation units appear on Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Nov. 7, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  The USS New Jersey, a decommissioned battleship, appears on the Delaware river off Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A college campus appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Lacrosse players warm up before practice in Clark County, Nevada on January 20, 2014\. The nearby Creech Air Force is the main command center for overseas drone strikes. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Wiggins Park Marina appears in Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII The drone that crashed was carrying a relatively small amount of meth — about 6 lb. worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000\. It wouldn’t make sense for a cartel to send millions of drones across the border carrying tiny amounts of any drug when they could transport hundreds or even thousands of pounds in a commercial vehicle, Barden says: “It’s like the post office sending one letter at a time.” A DEA spokeswoman in San Diego says authorities are “aware of this smuggling technique.” “While we would not call using drones a new trend in smuggling, we do know that drug-trafficking organizations will use any and all means to get their drugs \[into\] the United States,” says the spokeswoman, Amy Roderick. The drone could have been sent by an individual trying to send drugs to a friend or contact, rather than by a cartel, Barden speculates. If it was sent by a cartel, it could have been by a low-level member looking to go out on his own, or as a kind of research and development mission by the cartel. The crash is still under investigation by the Tijuana Public Safety Secretariat. And if cartels do start to use drones for surveillance, they won’t be along in the skies: the U.S. now patrols the airspace above almost half the Mexican border, according to [the Associated Press](http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20141113/drones-replacing-officers-in-mexican-border-surveillance "undefined"). Customs and Border Protection says it has nine drones in its arsenal. “If it’s not happening,” Barden says of cartels using drones for surveillance, “it soon will.” _Read next:_ [_CNN Just Got Permission to Experiment With Drones_](http://time.com/3665658/cnn-faa-drone-research/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3678745/drones-drugs-meth-mexico-cartel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3678745/drones-drugs-meth-mexico-cartel/"},"headline":"Drones May Soon Have a New Customer: Drug Cartels","datePublished":"2015-01-22T22:19:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:05.333Z","description":"\"If it's not happening, it soon will,\" one expert says","url":"https://time.com/3678745/drones-drugs-meth-mexico-cartel/","keywords":["Drugs","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b872019fccac107/69877b3ce53aba559a4d72bc/drone-meth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Gray","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-gray/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b872019fccac107/69877b3ce53aba559a4d72bc/drone-meth.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mexico MethaDrone","caption":"A drone loaded with packages containing methamphetamine lies on the ground after it crashed into a supermarket parking lot in the city of Tijuana on Jan. 20, 2015.","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3678745/drones-drugs-meth-mexico-cartel/","name":"Drones May Soon Have a New Customer: Drug Cartels"}}]}] ```