Cartel Drones Over the Rio Grande Valley Drop 75 Percent After Army Lasers Go Active

Suspected cartel-linked drone traffic over the Rio Grande Valley has reportedly fallen about 75 percent since the U.S. Army began using high-energy lasers as part of the southern-border defense stack.

Customs and Border Protection sources told The Hill that the laser system is proving to be very effective, as “its beam can completely disable the aircraft, which removes it from the suspected cartel’s arsenal of devices being used against the U.S.”

The Hill reports:

Before turning to the lasers as part of its counter-drone defense, military forces were largely using electronic warfare systems to jam up the drones reportedly being used by the cartels, officials said. The issue is once a drone operator can unjam the aircraft, it can return to full effectiveness.

However, the laser system is proving much more effective, as its beam can completely disable the aircraft, which removes it from the suspected cartel’s arsenal of devices being used against the U.S.

Norcom officials said last week the U.S. Army purchased the high-energy laser system in 2025 as part of an effort to develop what it calls scalable directed-energy capabilities against unmanned aircraft systems and other aerial threats.

The system was fully integrated into the Army’s layered defense system in August to “help counter threats” to military personnel and to support ongoing efforts to protect the U.S.-Mexico border against cartel operatives.

Pentagon and U.S. Northern Command figures released the same week say Joint Task Force–Southern Border stopped more than 300 drones tied to illicit activity in the first eight months of 2026, more than 100 of them in August.

NORTHCOM said the Army Multipurpose High-Energy Laser was first used in these operations on August 24 and had defeated 11 drones by September 4.

“Frontline troops have the right authorities and are leveraging a highly capable network to thwart threats to the forces conducting the territorial integrity mission,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command (Norcom), said in a statement.

Cartels use small aircraft to watch Border Patrol and soldiers and to time smuggling.

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