A United States government drone departed Texas on Wednesday and flew south to airspace over a part of México state that is a stronghold of La Nueva Familia Michoacana, a criminal group that the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.
Security Minister Omar García Harfuch told a press conference on Wednesday that the drone flight was requested by the Mexican government.
La aeronave que ha sobrevolado las últimas horas el Estado de México no es un avión militar, sino un avión no tripulado que vuela a petición específica de una institución del Gobierno de México, aclaró el titular de la Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana, Omar García… pic.twitter.com/Ok53AWJsEL
— NMás (@nmas) August 13, 2025
“It’s not a military plane, it’s not a military drone. They are drones or unmanned aircrafts, to be precise. They fly at the specific request of an institution of the Mexican government,” he said.
“They fly specifically in support and collaboration for investigations that we have in our country,” García Harfuch said.
He said that the unmanned aircraft — an MQ-9B SkyGuardian made by General Atomics and reportedly owned by the U.S. Air Force — had flown over the municipality of Tejupilco and other parts of México state.
“But it’s at the request of our country,” García Harfuch stressed.
The flight, operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), came less than a week after it was revealed that United States President Donald Trump had signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that the U.S. government has designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Earlier this year, the United States Central Intelligence Agency flew drones over Mexico to spy on drug cartels and hunt for fentanyl labs, according to U.S. media reports.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government had requested the flights in order to obtain information to be able to respond to prevailing “security conditions.”
“There is nothing illegal [taking place]. What there is, is collaboration and cooperation that has been going on for many years; it’s not something new,” Sheinbaum said in February.
She made similar remarks on Thursday morning, and told reporters that the CBP drone flight on Wednesday was “for a special investigation” into organized crime.
The latest drone flight
According to data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the CBP drone — which was unarmed — departed San Angelo, Texas, early Wednesday and flew south to airspace over México state.
In addition to Tejupilco, the unmanned aircraft also flew over the municipality of Valle Bravo, a popular tourist destination about 140 kilometers southwest of Mexico City.
It circled over southwestern México state for a period of approximately two hours before leaving the area. This region of México state borders Michoacán and Guerrero, states that are known for organized crime activity and drug trafficking.
The defense news website The War Zone reported that “sometime after flying over this area, about six hours into the flight, the MQ-9 disappeared off online tracking software.”
The Milenio newspaper reported that the area of México state over which the drone flew is of “strategic interest” due to its proximity to “routes toward Michoacán and Guerrero.”
La Nueva Familia Michoacana is the dominant crime group in the area, leading many media outlets to conclude that the CBP drone was seeking to collect information and intelligence about that organization.
The War Zone said that “CBP drone operators are fully aware that they can be tracked online with ease when broadcasting with their transponders.”
“The area they circled over may have been part of an active collection area or it may not have been, with the aircraft moving to more sensitive locales after it stopped transmitting,” the news site said.
What is the MQ-9B SkyGuardian capable of?
According to General Atomics, the MQ-9B SkyGuardian is “the next generation of remotely piloted aircraft systems, delivering persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance around the globe.”
The aircraft “can deliver real-time situational awareness anywhere in the world — day or night,” says General Atomics.
It is “outfitted with the revolutionary Lynx Multi-mode Radar, an advanced electro-optical/infrared sensor,” according to the San Diego-based company.
The SkyGuardian “is designed to fly over the horizon via satellite for up to 40+ hours in all types of weather and safely integrate into civil airspace,” General Atomics says.
La Nueva Familia Michoacana
Led by the brothers Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga and José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM) operates in various states including México state, Guerrero and Michoacán. It engages in a range of illicit activities including drug trafficking and extortion.
In late 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that its Office of Foreign Assets Control had designated LNFM and the Hurtado brothers in accordance with a 2021 executive order — “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.”
Authorities bust extortion ring controlling farming, construction and even package delivery
The Treasury Department said at the time that LNFM “smuggles illicit drugs into and throughout the United States” and was “behind the increasing U.S. presence of rainbow fentanyl,” allegedly “made to attract children and young users.”
Johnny Hurtado, known as “El Pez” (The Fish) and José Hurtado, known as “El Fresa” (The Strawberry or The Snob), are “two of the most wanted criminals in Mexico,” the department said.
The United States is offering a reward of up to US $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Johnny Hurtado and $3 million for information leading to the capture of his brother.
Last year, the United States government imposed sanctions on eight other alleged members or affiliates of LNFM for trafficking illicit drugs in the U.S., including fentanyl.
With reports from Milenio, El País, The War Zone and El Financiero
