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Rafael Suárez

Rafael Suárez

Rafael Suárez is a drone journalist and content creator with more than 20 years behind the lens. He began in film photography in 1998, moved to digital in 2005, and has been flying and filming with drones since 2016. As a commercial videographer he has produced work for premium brands including BMW, Porsche, and MINI, and his documentary work champions a #flysafe mentality across the industry. Based in Quito, Ecuador, he covers drone news, hardware, and the policy and business shaping the industry for DroneXL, and shares reviews and cinematic flight on his YouTube channel. A dad and a lifelong aviation nerd, he's happiest when something is in the air.

1,178
Articles
144
Beats covered
2025
Writing since
Aug 13
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Irvine Police Drone Catches Shoplifter in Truck Bed
DJI

Irvine Police Drone Catches Shoplifter in Truck Bed

The Irvine Police Department’s Drone as First Responder program ended a Walmart shoplifting case the same way it ends most calls these days, with the suspect on the ground and an aircraft watching from above. Officers arrested Guillermo Hazael Martinez Diaz, 26, on June 24 after a DFR drone tracked him from the store to…

Drone Smuggling Ring Hit 10 Prisons, DOJ Charges
FAA

Drone Smuggling Ring Hit 10 Prisons, DOJ Charges

A federal grand jury in Georgia indicted twelve people for running drones over the walls of ten federal prisons in eight states, dropping drugs, cell phones, and saw blades at least 38 times. Prosecutors call it the largest federal case to date built around coordinated drone smuggling into prisons. The 17-count indictment, unsealed June 24…

Drone Nerds Adds RigiTech Eiger for 62-Mile Delivery
Amazon

Drone Nerds Adds RigiTech Eiger for 62-Mile Delivery

XTI Aerospace’s Drone Nerds division added the RigiTech Eiger, a long-range delivery drone rated for 62 miles (100 km) per mission, to its enterprise portfolio. The Swiss-built aircraft takes off vertically, flies like a fixed-wing plane, and needs no runway. For a company that shelved a six-passenger air taxi in February to go all-in on…

DJI Mavic 4 Drone Leaks DroneXL.co
Amazon

DJI Mavic 4 Pro Creator Combo Drops $600 on Amazon

The DJI Mavic 4 Pro Creator Combo is on sale on Amazon right now for $3,400. That’s down from its standard $3,999 retail price, a 15 percent discount that puts $600 back in your pocket. The sale covers the full Creator Combo with the RC Pro 2 controller, not the base kit. If you have…

DJI Prime Day 2026: Best Drone Deals Worth Buying
DJI

DJI Prime Day 2026: Best Drone Deals Worth Buying

Amazon Prime Day 2026 runs through June 26, and for once the drone deals are actually worth your time. I’ve flown most of DJI’s current lineup personally, and several of these discounts are the lowest prices I’ve seen on this hardware. Here’s my read on each one, organized by who should actually buy what. DJI…

Walmart and Wing Plan Drone Deliveries in Maricopa
Walmart

Walmart and Wing Plan Drone Deliveries in Maricopa

Walmart is moving drone delivery into seven new markets, and Maricopa, Arizona is confirmed on the list. The company announced the expansion in early June 2026, naming Wing as its delivery partner for the greater Phoenix area push. No launch date exists yet. The whole project sits in the pre-application phase right now, working through…

Saronic Corsair Apache Rescue Was Years in the Making
Drone as First Responder

Saronic Corsair Apache Rescue Was Years in the Making

On June 8, 2026, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz, and a Navy sea drone picked up the two surviving crew members within two hours. It was described afterward as an operational first. It was not an accident. “You can rehearse medevac scenarios during exercises,” a U.S. military official…

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8,400+
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2020
Covering drones since
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