Posted a dji drone on marketplace this week. Had about 20 different Hispanic people offer me the exact same amount. Felt oddly organized. First thing I thought of was cartels buying them up.

Reminds me of the Lioness episode where the cartels used explosive drones.

Rockdoc said:

---

Does anyone know what kind of weaponized drones they may have access to? I've never seen anything on this.

---

Whatever China has, they have

I think there will be action against the cartels but it will be a while. There will need to be significant intelligence gathered beforehand. Minimum 6 months. Possibly a year.

JayM said:

---

Ags4DaWin said:

---

Trump has declared the cartels a terrorist organization

If they attack US citizens or border patrol from within mexico that will justify the US doing coordinates strikes in Mexican territory.

If they don't like it then reign in the cartels.

The cartels have never had to fight an actual military force before....and they have always been able to get their way via intimidating civilians and bribing officials. They can't do that to the us military.

.they have no idea what they are signing up for.

---

The cartels pay off the politicians or threaten their family members lives. They have Mexico sewn up.

---

I say take out the kingpins with a missile strike and I would start by texting them pictures of their locations to let them know we are serious.

"fire bomb" the cartels headquarters

JTR - great that you are not in charge of anything except poor leadership.

Think he's making fun of BigFred

LMCane said:

---

aggie93 said:

---

Every day that passes without Trump ordering an attack on the cartels directly but having also authorized military action makes me think they are planning something very coordinated and very big. There are few groups Trump wants to make an example out of than the cartels and they are begging for it. We have plenty of historical precedence for sending our troops into Mexico and I think we are setting up for a significant operation. I think Trump wants all his guys in place and a plan that is tight as a drum to inflict maximum damage with minimal risk to US Troops.

We will see.

---

Mexicans didn't like the last time we had to clean out the trash in 1917!

---

Which one of those was Lefty?

That's worked out well for us in the past (Iraq,Afghanistan) and it's working great for Russia in Ukraine…

one safe place said:

---

aggie93 said:

---

Every day that passes without Trump ordering an attack on the cartels directly but having also authorized military action makes me think they are planning something very coordinated and very big. There are few groups Trump wants to make an example out of than the cartels and they are begging for it. We have plenty of historical precedence for sending our troops into Mexico and I think we are setting up for a significant operation. I think Trump wants all his guys in place and a plan that is tight as a drum to inflict maximum damage with minimal risk to US Troops.

We will see.

---

I hope you are correct. We have *****footed around, Obama, Trump, Biden, all of them, and done basically nothing to stem the flow of invaders. The cartels have set up shop on our side of the border. I hope Trump uses drones, bombs/missiles to blow up places in Mexico where cartel folks are. And I hope he does it in a huge way.

Then tells any illegals that are caught in the United States that they are going to be housed in a pen for ten years and sent back under penalty of death if they ever return. You can't play nice with vermin.

---

Just think about using our satellites and other tech and focusing it on Mexico blended in with our Intelligence. Most of these folks are not hard to find, they haven't really had to hide for some time. I think it is entirely possible we are just tracking the hell out of them and waiting to drop the hammer. I don't think they truly realize that Trump has no reason to hold back and he could use the full might of the US Military on them as if we were fighting in the Middle East. That's basically what he has said he will do and he has popular support to do it.

I certainly wouldn't want to sell life insurance to any significant cartel member.

BTW, if you don't think the 25% Tariffs on Mexico aren't directly connected to this you haven't been paying attention. My guess is part of the cost of lifting them is to give Trump free reign to clean this mess up because the Mexican government can't.

Red Pear Felipe said:

---

Reminds me of the Lioness episode where the cartels used explosive drones.

---

Yeah... except they won't be fighting a bunch of skinny girl bosses but the best warriors on the planet when JSOC gets involved.

THIS!
I am relieved that I am no longer in uniform. Those drones that both sides are using in Ukraine are terrifying.

The Cartels will do the same. $500 drone with a grenade, a RPG warhead, or 2lbs of C4 can absolutely cause havoc. I suspect that the U.S. is working on anti-drone tech, but is it enough?

Erik Prince on letters of marque;

Exclusive — Erik Prince: Letters of Marque Would Allow Private Organizations to Wipe Out Drug Cartelshttps://t.co/E3nIbLyOI7

— Chuck from Houston (@BipodM240B) February 2, 2025

Quote:

---

"Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they 'bring home,'" Lee explained in his post.

When asked by Boyle "what the process would be for a Letter of Marque to be issued" and if it would come from the White House or Congress, Prince explained that the "last Letter of Marque" had been issued after Pearl Harbor "to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines."

"I believe the last Letter of Marque was actually issued after Pearl Harbor in 1942, and it was actually issued to a blimp operator who was authorized to hunt Japanese submarines off the coast of California. And, I don't know if that was a simple vote of Congress, or if that was a committee procedure, or what. But, that model you could actually do something similar with a presidential finding today, giving an entity a private organization a hunting license. And, then of course, when they were issued to ships, you'd have to post a bond a performance bond of certain rules you're going to follow, effectively rules of engagement for them to proceed," Prince explained.

"So, that could be done in certain areas of Mexico, certain areas of Latin America, to soak up the spoils of the illegal trade and of course the cartels' ability to operate and to terrorize local civilian populations," Prince said.

---

Make violently gutting the cartels legal and profitable. Someone clever with words could come up with a slogan in there somehow.

Burnsey said:

---

We won't do anything of significance about the border or cartels.

---

I'll bite.

One of Biden's campaign promises (that he kept)?

Rockdoc said:

---

Burnsey said:

---

We won't do anything of significance about the border or cartels.

---

What is the basis of your statement?

---

nm

HoustonAg9999 said:

---

Again no single cartel is dumb enough to take on the USA they will definitely not get help from another cartel they all want to kill each other


Guess we are doing these threads every week

---

You're underestimating human ego, greed, and external influences like China.

Nitro Power said:

---

Jeeper79 said:

---

Really dumb if true. This would just give us an excuse to hunt them down anywhere on the planet.

---

I thought that was the purpose of declaring them a terrorist organization.

---

Nobody outside our borders would respect that declaration. They'll respect us defending ourselves.

CS78 said:

---

Posted a dji drone on marketplace this week. Had about 20 different Hispanic people offer me the exact same amount. Felt oddly organized. First thing I thought of was cartels buying them up.

---

I wouldn't think too hard about it. I had the same happen for home gym equipment. Even the secondhand market has a going rate. Capitalism (supply and demand) can be surprisingly efficient sometimes.

That's some country. If you vacation in Mexico and spend your money there you're a ****ing idiot!

Just take the missile testing range at White Sands and turn it the other direction.

Cartels think the US government is like Mexico's? That our military and law enforcement are like Mexico's? We could literally invade Mexico and win using just half of our military reserves. They don't know what it's like to face an Air Force. Or armor. Or missiles.

I hope they do come after us. It'll be so much more efficient to take them down under the umbrella of "defense".

We had also better be prepared for an internal ground war when they activate those 5 Million cartel loyalists that walked over. They could be arming themselves now.

Jeeper79 said:

---

Cartels think the US government is like Mexico's? That our military and law enforcement are like Mexico's? We could literally invade Mexico and win using just half of our military reserves. They don't know what it's like to face an Air Force. Or armor. Or missiles.

I hope they do come after us. It'll be so much more efficient to take them down under the umbrella of "defense".

---

They're not stupid, however I'd bet decent money a cartel could have a MANPAD or Javelin in hand in a couple of days time.

My history is rusty... but didn't one of the cartels start as a Mexican Army or Marine operation to take out the cartels and the people saw how much money was there and just took over?

I agree with the majority of the sentiment here as regards Mexican cartels but playing the devils advocate there are two sides to this........what do we do with all the folks here within US borders that are buying and using the cartels products? Nothing? Seems to me something needs to happen on the "user" side as well as the "production" side...?????

Rattler12 said:

---

I agree with the majority of the sentiment here as regards Mexican cartels but playing the devils advocate there are two sides to this........what do we do with all the folks here within US borders that are buying and using the cartels products? Nothing? Seems to me something needs to happen on the "user" side as well as the "production" side...?????

---

People tend to go to jail except in Chicago, New York and LA …. Sanctuary cities or Soros prosecutors.

B-1 83 said:

---

Jeeper79 said:

---

Cartels think the US government is like Mexico's? That our military and law enforcement are like Mexico's? We could literally invade Mexico and win using just half of our military reserves. They don't know what it's like to face an Air Force. Or armor. Or missiles.

I hope they do come after us. It'll be so much more efficient to take them down under the umbrella of "defense".

---

They're not stupid, however I'd bet decent money a cartel could have a MANPAD or Javelin in hand in a couple of days time.

---

Maybe. But it's not enough. They'd need tons of them. They may be rich, but they're not sovereign nation rich.

Rattler12 said:

---

I agree with the majority of the sentiment here as regards Mexican cartels but playing the devils advocate there are two sides to this........what do we do with all the folks here within US borders that are buying and using the cartels products? Nothing? Seems to me something needs to happen on the "user" side as well as the "production" side...?????

---

Didnt we try that in the 80s to limited success?