Amanda Celiceo

Freedom/Privacy/Technology
Research Paper
Section 1, Subsection A
Drones in Mexico

Drones have become rather popular in the last few years. Mostly because it has been
introduced to ordinary people outside of law enforcement and scientist. The evolving features
and capabilities of these UVAs are amazing. In Mexico, a few of the only types of drones talked
about are those of law enforcement. Mexicos drones are not as high tech or up to date as those
used by The United States or Israel. Although drones havent made their way into the hands of
their people to a full extent, however, they are appearing and many are making their own because
of Mexicos lack of regulations on the use of drones. Due to this lack of regulations, many that
can get a drone are doing extraordinary things with them from video productions to
environmental patrolling.
With the many advanced feauters of drones, the federal police have become fans of
drones. Their main purpose in deciding to use drones is to fight crime. The first time Mexico got
their hands in drones was in 2009. According to a web-based article in the Americas
Society/Council of the Americas,
The Mexican air force first acquired Israeli-made Hermes drones in 2009, and began
using them the following year. The military also began developing its own drones in
2009, and in November 2011 the navy started flying domestically produced drones.
This country employs drones for a number of purposes, both for military surveillance
and fighting organized crime, as well as environmental monitoring and assessment of

natural disasters. The Mexican government operates at least 100 UAVs, according to
a May 2013 analysis from Mexican security news site Mexico Seguridad.
The fed polices drones are able to fly for about 20 hours autonomously, however, they still need
people on the ground controlling the drone to perform elaborate movements. Bigger drones
tend to be guided by satellites. Compared to other countries drones, Mexicos drones do not
carry weapons and have wings that can spread out to at least 6 feet. And just in case of a crash,
some drones carry parachutes so the drone stays intact upon impact.
Drones have been a huge help for the federal police in Mexico. The federal police have
used these drones to protect their national security. Mexicos drones that are currently being used
by the federal police and their government are purposely for fighting crime. Since these drones
have aerial cameras, have the capability to intercept phone calls and transmit images in real time,
these drones are being used to patrol the US border and monitor crime along the US/Mexican
Borders.
Along with that, these drones are equipped with x-rays apparatuses in order to scan a
building for a count of bodies and have done some remarkable things such as aid the capture of
Joaquin Guzman, a high-profile drug kingpin. Mexico has been able to find kidnapping gangs,
find fuel thieves, and map the movement of the drug trafficking business through the use of
drones, so it can be said that their purpose for getting these drones are proving to be working.
Sadly, as long as the fed police have fancy equipment, the cartel is not to far behind. The
cartels have used drones for a more serious and extreme hobby of smuggling and transporting
drugs. With the help of DIY websites on how to build your own drone, smuggling drugs have
become not as big of a risk because a drone can do the dirty work without putting lives at risk.
Also, drones are harder to trace back to people. Recently, a S900 drone crashed near the Mexican

border in Tijuana, Mexico. It was reported to be carrying about 7 pounds of crystal meth. This
drone ran off of a lithium battery and had 6 propellers.
The use of drones are beginning to gain much popularity because of its many uses and
new technologies. Recently, Mexicos international airport used drones to make a video.
According to the translated video description the video was requested to be made by the
SENEAM staff in honor of their anniversary. SENEAM is the organization in charge of
providing air navigation services for Mexico and was created as a government agency in 1978.
These services include Air Traffic Control, weather information, and arrival and departure
procedure designs. In another case, drones were and are used to protect endangered species in
the Sea of Cortez. According to a fox news article, Mexico is planning to use drones to patrol
the upper Sea of Cortez to combat illegal fishing and save the critically endangered vaquita
marina, the world's smallest porpoise. An environmental prosecutor, Alejandro del Mazo states,
We are considering the use of advanced technology, because drones would allow us to have
permanent aerial patrols in the area and be able to react much more efficiently and quickly. Its
peaceful uses like this that have caught the eye of Mexico and have influenced them to not
regulate the use of drones to anyone.
Drones are making their way into the farming culture as well. Chris Anderson, a former
editor in chief of wired magazine and now co-founder of 3D Robotics he states in BBC, Drones
are starting to be incorporated into what's known as precision agriculture. 3D Robotics, which
is building drones in Mexico and the US which may one day keep a beady electronic eye on the
food being grown for our tables.
To those civilians who have been able to get their hands on drones. Their uses for drones
are the obvious hobby of taking pictures, maybe a selfie here and there, but besides personal use,

people have used them to enhance their production companies to a university research. In an
article I read, it stated that Mexico encourages the use of drones, more specifically towards
research and innovation. Which probably has to do with their efforts in building competitive
drones. Drones will sooner or later be easier to get a hold of by regular civilians because Tijuana,
Mexico is becoming a mecca for the production of drones because of cheap labor and how close
it is to the US border. In general, 40% of Mexicos companies are manufacturing electronics.
According to Chris Anderson who quit his job to run a drone company,
The answer was as much a surprise to the investors as it had been to me a few years
earlier: Mexico. In particular, Tijuana. Like many Americans, until recently, when I heard
Tijuana I thought only of drug cartels and cheap tequila. TJ, though, is a city of more
than two million people (larger than neighboring San Diego), and it has become North
Americas electronics assembly hot spot: most of the flat-screen TVs sold in the United
States, from companies like Samsung and Sony, are made there, along with everything
from medical devices to aerospace parts. Jordi Muoz, the smart young guy who had
taught me about drones and then started 3D Robotics with me, is from TJ and he
persuaded me to build a second factory there to supplement the work we were doing in
San Diego.
The future of drones will continue to grow in all industries: criminal, enforcement,
personal use, farming, science, and so much more. For now, Mexicos main focus is on the
expansion of drone innovation. It may just be that their aspiration for entrepreneurs in the
manufacturing of drones is for the purpose of fighting crime or it may just be the drive to have
better drones than other countries. Regardless, Mexico plans to start making their own brand of

drones and will compete with U.S. and Israeli models of drones. In the future Mexico plans to
work with Guadalajara based hydra technologies to manufacture and design drones.
Subsection B
At first when a new technology comes out, its the hit new thing and no one really
knows how to deal with this new kind of technology until it violates our rights or causes
problems for the government. Drones are a big issue in criminal enforcement agencies, however,
its also criminals who are using drones. For the people, the use of drones may worry some
people about their personal safety and privacy and on the government side its a matter of
national security.
At the moment, Mexico hasnt regulated the use of drones. It may be because of the
benefits it has brought for the Mexican government through law enforcement. Because they are
the only ones with the advantage of high tech drones, for now it may stay regulation free but as
soon as more and more people get a hold of drones, the government will make some type of
regulation on the use of drones. I believe they havent regulated the use of drones because they
want to be in the running of producing better drones.
Drones will continue to be the best way to monitor crime for Mexico, however,
monitoring crime can easily turn into monitoring people, and thats when issues of privacy and
freedom come in. Like America, drones were used to surveillance criminals but has made its way
into a heated debate of using drones to surveillance people for a better means of efficient crime
stopping but has turned into monitoring the streets or actually watching people which has
caused a sense of paranoia. So it a great possibility that the drones used to fight crime will ensure
paranoia over Mexicos people. Who knows, maybe paranoia is what the government wants their
people to feel. However, with the reputation the Mexican law enforcement has with ties to

corruption, who knows what else these drones are being used for. Their police system is one of
the most corrupt systems out there. According to Human Rights Watch, The criminal justice
system routinely fails to provide justice to victims of violent crimes and human rights violations.
Causes of this failure include corruption, inadequate training and resources, and the complicity
of prosecutors and public defenders. The government is letting the people down, peoples voices
arent being heard and dont seem to matter even though they are a democratic country. At the
moment, there is a big human rights rally going on in regards to the corruption, disappearances
and torturing of people by the Mexican police. The Mexican government has delayed
investigations on the disappearance of 43 students and the killing of 22 people. According to
Amnesty International,
In the late night hours of September 26th, and the early hours of the 27th, the Iguala
municipal police discharged their state issued firearms against a bus full of students
training to be teachers from Ayotzinapa and other people nearby, 3 students and three
bystander were killed and 25 more were wounded. At daylight of the 27th, the body of a
sixth student was found dead and grossly mutilated. Somebody gauged his eyes out and
peeled back his face. His name was Julio Cesar Mondragn. The police arrested scores of
students who were later handed over to a criminal gang. 43 are still disappeared. The
killings and disappearances and their aftermath are of such tragic proportions that it may
become a milestone in Mexicos history, an event that may change Mexico forever,
hopefully for the better. I say this because as the investigation of the whereabouts of the
43 disappeared students continues, the Mexican people are realizing how closely linked
many of their local, state and federal authorities are to organized crime. The Mexican
people are without protection from the wanton disregard for life exhibited by some

police, military forces and criminal organizations alike. There is a fog of mistrust where
people cannot distinguish an honest policeman or government official from an assassin
dressed in uniform or corrupt official.
The people of Mexico do have a right to freedom of speech and many have been using
there freedom to protest this corruption. According to Amnesty International, Mexican society
has reacted with massive demonstrations, supported by events around the world to highlight the
plight of the victims and the relatives.
Drones is a potential platform for future corruption, however these drones that fall intoi
the wrong hands can also cause some damage, damage to national security. We know that drones
are now being used by the cartel. The drone carrying 7 pounds of meth, that recently crashed
near the Mexican border in Tijuana Mexico brings up the issue of national security because of
smuggling narcotics and other criminal activities such as surveillance of people, potential
victims. According to Breitbart, a web-based article, federal authorities noted that they are
more worried that smugglers might use drones for a more conventional purpose. Authorities say
that they fear the drug cartels could use drones to spy on U.S. border agents and to pinpoint their
positions in order to help smugglers avoid detection. Another reason why drones ware appealing
to the cartel are the possibility for future organized crime, According to an interview done by
Time Magazine, a special agent Matthew Barden states, The issue would most likely be
surveillance, not transportation. They can be used to spy on border agents doing rounds, people
can use them to set up an ambush.
Since the cartel has gotten their hands on drones and are attempting to now make them,
these cartels are going to get creative in making sure their drones are undetectable, are light
weight, and can carry a good sized amount. According to Peter Singer, a UAV security and

intelligence expert at the Brookings Institute stated in Motherboard, a web-based article, Cartels
are adaptive in their use of technology. And drones are a technology becoming more and more
available, he said. They will match new means to their old ends.
Aside from crime on the national security level, emergencies and natural disasters is
another issue drones can help with. When a natural disaster happens, drones will be there to help
make deliveries and aid people. These drones will eventually end up saving many peoples lives.
The future of drones and the affects it will have on the people of Mexico is hard to tell as
of now because of how new it still is. For now, drones will still be the new technology and
without regulations. Once situations of human rights violations occurs, then thats when the issue
of regulations will come into play and we will see how the people will react.

References
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26http://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/boise/images/2013/prens/mexnewchina.pdf

http://www.hrw.org/americas/mexico