Mexican cartels have ramped up their use of drones as they vie for territorial control, the latest indication of how the technology is reshaping global security.
Experts say an arms race between the cartels — which generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year — has pushed some to send members to train as drone operators in Ukraine, which has become the global hotspot for drone warfare.
Meanwhile the plummeting price of the devices has made them widely available from South America to Africa, forcing authorities globally to adapt quickly to the mounting challenge: The French military shot down a drone over a nuclear submarine base, while Irish authorities are investigating unusual aerial activity during the Ukrainian president’s visit to Dublin last week.