President Claudia Sheinbaum says officials are checking whether unverified footage is genuine, amid long-standing concerns that criminal groups want to learn drone warfare on the Ukrainian front line.
Mexico is investigating claims that members of drug cartels have travelled abroad to fight as mercenaries with the Ukrainian army. The inquiry follows the appearance on social media of unverified footage that seems to show an armed man in Ukraine chanting slogans used by the gangs. President Claudia Sheinbaum said the government was “reviewing the case, first to determine whether the video is authentic and, second, to see how these individuals ended up in that location”. Ukraine has not publicly responded to her statement or to the footage.
What the video appears to show
In the clip, the men smoke cigarettes and say: “Glory to Ukraine. Long live Mexico, long live Colombia, long live Panama.” Reports say they also mention the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and La Chapiza, a faction associated with the Sinaloa Cartel. Their identities and alleged affiliations have not been independently established, and Mexican authorities have not confirmed that they are cartel members.
Ms Sheinbaum said the men “could be recruited by a private company that takes part in these conflicts, by an army, or by a government. We’re looking into the case.” She said verifying the footage was the priority. A confirmed link to organised crime could lead to further diplomatic inquiries.
Earlier warnings
In June 2025, Intelligence Online, an independent French investigative journalism platform, reported that Mexico’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had warned Ukraine that people linked to drug cartels had volunteered to join its International Legion. According to the report, they were not motivated by solidarity but by a wish to learn to operate first-person-view (FPV) kamikaze drones for use against rival groups and Mexican security forces. Ukraine is regarded as a world leader in drone technology and tactics.
Similar concerns emerged around the same time. Reports suggested Ukrainian counterintelligence was examining whether some Latin American volunteers, including Colombian nationals, had links to criminal organisations and were seeking battlefield experience with FPV drones. Mexican authorities have not confirmed that the people in the latest footage travelled to Ukraine for training.
Drones spreading across Latin America
Conflict monitor ACLED recorded around 670 incidents involving weaponised drones in Latin America between 2018 and August 2026. More than 72% occurred from January 2025 onwards.
Colombia has become a significant centre of drone-related violence. Foreign Policy cited the death of 10-year-old Dilan Camilo Erazo Yela, who was killed in July 2024 when a drone dropped a device on the pitch where he was playing with friends. ACLED believes he was the first person known to have been killed by a drone in Colombia. Attacks have since followed, including on 13 officers in Antioquia in August 2025 and on seven soldiers in Aguachica. ACLED experts believe armed groups in Colombia learned the tactics from criminal organisations in Mexico.
Mathilde Gamba, writing last month for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology, said: “Today, weaponised drones are routinely employed to target rival organisations, attack law enforcement, intimidate civilian populations, and gain territorial control.” She added: “Growing evidence suggests that Mexican cartel operatives are not only adapting tactics pioneered on the Ukrainian battlefield through online learning environments but may also be seeking direct exposure to combat experience.”
Mexican cartels already use drones for surveillance, territorial control, smuggling and attacks on rivals and security personnel. These existing activities do not prove that cartel members have been trained on Ukrainian battlefields.
