A US drone flies over Valle de Bravo, a stronghold of La Familia

At the request of the Mexican government, an unmanned aircraft circled over Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, on Wednesday, August 13. It should be noted that the drone took off from the United States.

The head of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, stated that the aircraft observed was not a military plane or drone.

“It’s not a military plane, it’s not a military drone. They are drones or unmanned aircraft, or rather, they fly at the specific request of a Mexican government institution. They fly specifically to support and collaborate with investigations we are conducting in our country,” the official said at a press conference.

“In this case, they are flying over the Tejupilco area and other areas of the State of Mexico, but it is at the request of our country.”

He emphasized that no foreign aircraft flies without authorization in national territory and that there is no presence of military aircraft operating on their own in Mexico.

“Every flight responds to a formal request from our country and is aligned with our investigations,” he stated.

What was the flight route?

According to the Flightradar24 platform, it is the drone with registration CBP-113, belonging to the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

It is a General Atomics MQ-9B Guardian, operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) under the call sign TROY701.

It is also capable of operating at altitudes above 15,000 meters, out of range of most small arms. It is equipped with high-resolution optical sensors, infrared cameras, and synthetic aperture radar, allowing it to carry out daytime operations. and at night, even in adverse weather conditions.

Originally designed for military use, the MQ-9B can hover over an area persistently or cover large areas undetected, transmitting real-time data to command centers.

This capability makes it a key tool for border surveillance operations, target tracking, and monitoring strategic areas, such as those that, according to flight logs, took place over Valle de Bravo.

US Tracks Leaders of La Nueva Familia Michoacana

On the Flightradar24 platform, which monitors the movements of all types of aircraft worldwide in real time, the drone’s trajectory was recorded, suggesting a prolonged surveillance mission in an area of strategic interest due to its proximity to routes to Michoacán and Guerrero.

In the heart of the territory dominated by Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga, known as El Pez, and José Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, nicknamed El Fresa.

The Olascoaga brothers are identified as leaders of the criminal organization La Nueva Familia Michoacana, considered by the government to be a criminal organization. The New Michoacán Family has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.

According to investigations, this criminal organization operates in parts of Michoacán, Guerrero, the State of Mexico, and Morelos, with significant social bases in towns such as Arcelia, Guerrero, and Tlatlaya, State of Mexico.

Military intelligence has even identified that El Pez and El Fresa move freely in these areas, where they attend parties and drug trafficking events, although they are always under perimeter security.

Currently, the leaders of La Nueva Familia Michoacana are the target of a federal indictment in the United States, filed in the state of Georgia, through investigations led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), through Operation Diablos Rojos, launched in July 2021.

Washington has identified that the criminal organization has even taken root on US soil, setting up drug production laboratories and establishing networks for trafficking its products.