The US military just shot down (or jammed, we’re not entirely sure) Mexican cartel drones that flew into American airspace over El Paso, Texas. And the whole thing went down with zero warning to local officials, who woke up Wednesday morning to find out their city’s airspace had been completely locked down overnight.
A Trump administration official confirmed to Business Insider that “Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace” and that the Pentagon “took action to disable the drones.” The Federal Aviation Administration slapped a surprise restriction on all flights up to 18,000 feet over a 10-mile radius around El Paso, scheduled to last a full 10 days. The notice even warned that the US “may use deadly force” against aircraft deemed an imminent security threat.
That’s the kind of language that makes you sit up and pay attention.
How Did They Actually Take Down These Drones?
Here’s where it gets interesting. The Pentagon isn’t talking details, but a social media account for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering posted a photo that appears to show a laser frying a small drone. The caption? “Defend the homeland.”
So maybe we’re looking at directed energy weapons being used on US soil for the first time in a real-world scenario. Or maybe it was good old-fashioned electronic warfare jamming. The military loves keeping its cards close to the chest on this stuff, and honestly, can you blame them?
We don’t know if these drones were carrying drugs or what their actual mission was. Cartels have been using drones for smuggling operations for years now, but this incident seems different. Different enough that the FAA and Pentagon felt justified shutting down airspace over a major American city without any advance notice.
The Restrictions That Vanished As Fast As They Appeared
Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, called the FAA’s decision “unprecedented.” And she’s right. You don’t just shut down airspace over a city of 680,000 people for “special security reasons” without expecting some serious questions.
But then, just as quickly as it started, it ended. By 7 a.m. Mountain Time on Wednesday, barely eight hours after the restrictions went into effect, the FAA lifted them. “All flights will resume as normal,” they announced, offering exactly zero additional details about what just happened.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy praised the “swift” action in a social media post, describing it as a response to a “cartel drone incursion.” Swift is one way to put it. Confusing is another.
The whole episode raises more questions than it answers. Was this a one-time breach or part of a pattern? How many drones were there? And why did the Pentagon think this particular incident warranted such an extreme response when cartels have been flying drones across the border for years?
The Bigger Picture on Drone Threats
This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Western militaries are scrambling to figure out how to deal with cheap, accessible drone technology that anyone can get their hands on. The barrier to entry for drone operations is basically nonexistent now, and both state actors and criminal organizations know it.
Europe dealt with a wave of mysterious drone incursions at the end of 2025. Russian drones violated NATO airspace. Unidentified drones showed up over critical infrastructure and airports across allied countries. It’s become a genuine security headache that no one has fully solved yet.
The business of counter-drone technology is booming because of this exact problem. Everyone from defense contractors to tech startups is pitching solutions, everything from kinetic interceptors to electromagnetic jammers to yes, laser weapons.
Fort Bliss, the massive Army installation in El Paso, couldn’t be reached for comment. Which tracks, honestly. When something this sensitive goes down, the military tends to go radio silent until they’ve figured out exactly what they want to say.
What we’re seeing here is the future of border security colliding with the reality that our airspace is more vulnerable than most people realize, and a couple of cartel operators with consumer drones just forced the US military to show its hand in defending it.
