“By integrating layered countermeasures alongside advanced directed-energy capabilities like this laser system, we have made it clear that we will not tolerate hostile surveillance,” he continued. “We also greatly appreciate the support of our Mexican Army partners as we work together to combat this threat to the border region.”

MAJ Brian Harris, Director of Public Affairs for the task force, told the Washington Examiner, “These operations mark the first use of the AMP-HEL system to defeat cartel-linked drones on the Southern Border.”

The three drones were “small, commercially available” ones that “are typically employed by cartels and other transnational criminal organizations,” he said.

Harris declined to comment on the specific capabilities of the drones but said they “were employed by criminal organizations to facilitate illicit human smuggling and actively spy on our military personnel and law enforcement partners.”

The task force did not say where the drones were shot down along the border, whether they were in U.S. airspace at the time, or what company manufactured the laser system. Roughly 8,000 U.S. service members are currently deployed under JTF-SB since assuming the mission in March 2025.

The military has experimented with the use of high-energy lasers to intercept drones as a cheaper alternative to more expensive kinetic interceptors, and the developing technology also poses a lower threat in congested airspace.

The office of the undersecretary of war for research and engineering highlighted the use of lasers, saying on social media, “Scaling directed energy capabilities is a critical technology area for the Department of War to protect the homeland and secure our southern border. The Department is collaborating with industry partners to rapidly field low-cost, deep-magazine directed energy solutions to neutralize cartel drone threats.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Pentagon completed an assessment in April on the safety of using a high-energy laser counter-drone system near commercial airspace and determined that there is not “an increased risk to the flying public,”  FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said at the time.

Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) led the test, which occurred at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in March. AV’s Locust high-energy laser system demonstration showed that the system only engaged validated targets and had no adverse effects to civilian aircraft during controlled evaluation scenarios.

General Gregory Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, said in 2024 that there were likely more than 1,000 drone incursions into U.S. airspace each month.

“I don’t know the actual number — I don’t think anybody does — but it’s in the thousands,” Guillot said in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in March 2024, adding,  “We… probably have over 1,000 a month.” 

Over the past decade, federal law enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border has seen more cartel-operated drones transporting small bundles of valuable narcotics through the air and down to someone on the U.S. side.

“While operational security protocols prevent us from discussing specific data, intelligence assessments, or threat metrics regarding illicit unmanned systems, the reality on the ground is unambiguous: commercial and adapted [drone] technology represents an evolving challenge across the operational environment,” Harris added. 

“The key takeaway is that our command does not remain static; we are aggressively innovating and fielding counter-UAS capabilities, tactics, and integrated defenses to maintain complete domain awareness. Our readiness, force protection posture, and commitment to neutralizing emerging aerial threats remain absolute,” he said.

A drone can fly several miles from its operator. Users can operate the drone with a remote control or provide instructions and let the drone operate without a guide. Either way, the owner is able to avoid being captured by U.S. federal law enforcement while smuggling drugs, money, firearms, or other items between countries.

From Oct. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017, Border Patrol’s San Diego, California, region reported two known drone incidents. In fiscal 2016, five occurred. Before then, it had not even been tracked.

Between being unaware of just how widely cartels are using drones to smuggle contraband over the border and being unable to do anything when they are seen, federal law enforcement has faced significant challenges determining who sent the drone and attempting to go after the drone operator.

Carl Landrum, retired chief of the Border Patrol’s Laredo, Texas, region, who now works for counterdrone defense company Dedrone, testified before the House in 2024 and said part of the problem responding to drones on non-military land was the “very limited amounts” of counterdrone technology. The United States has the ability to detect drones, but is severely limited in its “offensive” capabilities or in how it can physically go after and take down drones in the sky.

DEFENSE STARTUP HAS SUCCESSFUL TEST OF ELECTROMAGNETIC CONTAINERIZED DRONE DEFENSE SYSTEM

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) recounted in September 2025 that the U.S. Northern Command leadership reported that “over 1,000 drones cross into U.S. airspace from the Mexican border each month, with [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] agents noting that in Texas along the Rio Grande Valley alone, over 10,000 drone incursions and 25,000 drone sightings occurred in 2024.”

Only the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secret Service have the legal authority to respond to a suspicious drone and take it down through various counter-drone measures — except over military bases, because the military is responsible for its own airspace. Local and state police, as well as civilians, cannot respond to ones they perceive as dangerous.