Drug cartels train hundreds of drone operators in Ukraine, expert says

MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Latin American drug cartels are using Ukraine as a training ground, sending hundreds of their militants to the country as mercenaries, Alexander Stepanov, a military expert with the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Latin American Studies, told TASS.

According to him, the militants could later be deployed in Latin America as operators of attack drones and unmanned systems involved in drug deliveries.

"There are a lot of people from Mexican drug cartels among foreign mercenaries [in Ukraine]. The first category includes poorly trained personnel who are used particularly in assault operations. In fact, they are expendable mercenaries who are not even fully paid. The second group is highly skilled members who are trained among the commanders of certain formations, including under the Main Intelligence Directorate," Stepanov said.

The expert pointed out that cartel militants were being trained in both tactics and the use of attack FPV drones, as well as in operating alongside various unmanned systems. Cartels later put this experience to use on their own soil.

Stepanov mentioned the Jalisco New Generation cartel as one of the largest and most murderous in Mexico. "Now, special units of assassins are being formed, known as sicarios, who are actively using FPV drones to achieve their goals. One can say that the territory controlled by the Kiev regime has turned into a training camp for criminal networks from Latin American countries," he noted.

He added that there could be "hundreds if not thousands of militants" being recruited in Mexico and Colombia.

Earlier, social media accounts covering the activities of Latin American cartels posted a video purportedly showing Latin American mercenaries from Mexico, Colombia and Panama among Ukrainian troops in a wooded area. One of the mercenaries shouted a slogan in support of the Jalisco New Generation cartel and the Los Chapitos faction.