Colombia's coca-fueled conflict just picked up a cheap, deadly upgrade: store-bought drones. Since April 2024, Colombia's military says cocaine-funded armed groups have launched roughly 400 drone attacks, killing nearly 60 soldiers and police officers and injuring close to 300, per the Wall Street Journal. In one pre-Christmas strike, drones hit a northeastern army base as troops slept, killing seven. The National Liberation Army, or ELN, which was blamed for that attack, is among several militias that have doubled in size in recent years and are now increasingly integrating drones into their standard war tool kit.
The technology isn't sophisticated. Most drones are commercially available Chinese-made models that cost a few hundred dollars, then are altered to carry homemade explosives. "It's very cheap," says state aerospace engineer Cesar Jaramillo, who notes that the parts and know-how are easy to obtain. The same trend is unfolding across Latin America: Mexico's Jalisco cartel drops C-4 on villages, Rio de Janeiro gangs have bombed police from the skies, and Ecuadorian prison bosses use drones to move contraband.
Colombia's security forces, already stretched, are scrambling to catch up. The military has formed its first drone battalion and is designing rugged surveillance drones and jamming systems designed to disable hostile aircraft—technology that can run more than $100,000 per unit and still doesn't offer a universal fix. "All the measures we have employed against drones aren't enough," admits Maj. Gen. Juan Carlos Correa. Reuters notes Colombia has also launched a project to build a $1.7 billion drone shield. Researchers liken the shift to the arrival of land mines, when troops were no longer able to rely on once-safe positions.
Armed groups have grown to about 25,000 members as President Gustavo Petro pursued ceasefires that critics say gave militias breathing room to recruit and rearm. President Trump has accused Petro of letting the drug trade flourish; Petro insists his government is pushing back against drug gangs, even as UN data show record coca cultivation. Local officials, including the mayor of Cali—who says gangs have already tried, and failed, to bomb targets by drone—warn that a successful urban attack is likely only "a matter of time." NBC News, meanwhile, profiled locals over the summer and the fear they feel when they hear the zumbido, or buzz, of drones overhead.
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