Security Alert: Drones Boost Border Crimes

Keeping a close eye on the borders is becoming increasingly challenging with the advent of drone technology, as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stressed in a recent address to congressional staffers.

Highlighting the incident in Pittsburgh earlier this month where an errant drone led to a 30-minute grounding of all flights, he revealed that it was only one in a worrying 2,300 drone-related incidents disrupting flight schedules in the past two years.

Mayorkas shared his concerns about the use of drones by criminals, particularly along the U.S.-Mexican border.

“While drones present such a remarkable potential in terms of the innovation and their productive use, in the wrong hands, they also present a real threat”, he warned. He explained the threat is most notable “on the border, where criminal organizations are seeking to use drones to carry drugs across the border, where they’re using it as a force multiplier in their ability to understand where our law enforcement resources are deployed and seek to circumvent them.”

Drones are not only being used to spy on border enforcement efforts, but they have also been implicated in drug and human trafficking operations, Mayorkas reportedly noted. “So it gives them bigger eyes, if you will,” he said, emphasizing the surveillance advantage these devices give to criminals.

He also pointed to China as a key producer of drones, but recognized other nations also contribute to this dangerous drone proliferation. “It is a source of concern, but [China] is not a sole source of drone manufacturing production,” Mayorkas added, urging the purchase of drones that are free from such potential threats.

In light of these rising concerns, there’s a bipartisan bill in the works to bolster the department’s drone capabilities, which Mayorkas encouraged Congress to back.

The gravity of these drone-related security risks emphasizes the importance of innovating and adapting in our quest for national security.