Mexican cartel drones breach US airspace, are disabled by War Department, Duffy says

Drones operated by Mexican drug cartels breached American airspace and were soon disabled by the U.S. military, the Trump administration announced Wednesday.

The breach took place near El Paso International Airport in Texas, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily close the airport late Tuesday. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy confirmed the breach and lifted the airspace restriction on Wednesday.

“The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion,” Duffy announced in a statement on X, referring to the Department of War. “The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.”

“The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming,” he added.

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He did not say how many drones were involved or what specifically was done to disable them.

The FAA’s initial announcement had said the El Paso airport would be closed for a period of 10 days, which would have been unprecedented for a U.S. city. The FAA had cited “special security reasons” for the initial closure.

El Paso, a border city with a population of nearly 700,000 people and larger when including the surrounding metro area, is hub of cross-border commerce alongside the neighboring city of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. The brief closure did not include Mexican airspace.

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Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, had urged the FAA to lift the restrictions in a statement Wednesday morning. There was no advance notice given to her office, the city of El Paso or airport operations, she said.

“The highly consequential decision by FAA to shut down the El Paso Airport for 10 days is unprecedented and has resulted in significant concern within the community,” Escobar said. “From what my office and I have been able to gather overnight and early this morning there is no immediate threat to the community or surrounding areas.”

The incident came the same day that the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a warning about a “fake memo circulating online and through media outlets announcing temporary 10-day road closures in the El Paso area.”

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“This is a fake memo, and DPS is NOT closing the major highways – or any roads – in or out of the area over the next 10 days,” DPS said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.