Mexico Confirms US Border Patrol Drone Over Cartel-Held Valle de Bravo

Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, said the federal government asked the United States to deploy an unmanned aircraft to assist with domestic investigations, confirming that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection MQ-9B “Guardian” flew for several hours early 13 August over Valle de Bravo and neighbouring Tejupilco in the State of Mexico. García Harfuch stressed that the platform was neither a military aircraft nor a combat drone but part of a cooperative law-enforcement mission. The area where the drone operated is known to be influenced by La Familia Michoacana, a criminal group Washington recently designated a terrorist organisation. Local media and flight-tracking data indicated the aircraft operated under callsign TROY701. Mexican authorities did not disclose details of the investigation, but officials framed the sortie as routine collaboration with U.S. agencies rather than unilateral action.