Mexican intelligence services have warned their Ukrainian colleagues that some volunteers could be recruited into the International Legion of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's GUR to learn how to fly FPV drones and then transfer this knowledge to cartels, NV reports, citing Intelligence Online.
According to him, at the beginning of the summer, the Mexican National Intelligence Center (CNI) handed over a confidential note with relevant information to the Security Service of Ukraine.
In response, the SBU, together with the GUR, launched an investigation that also included Colombian volunteers, including those from the secret unit Tactical Group Ethos.
The publication notes that some volunteers were so eager to master drone piloting that they neglected other types of training. Among them is Mexican volunteer Aguila-7. He joined the legion in March 2024 under a fake Salvadoran ID.
Aguila-7 completed a full training course in Lviv — there, the instructors drew attention to his high level of training: the volunteer worked freely with analog transmitters, noticed thermal "blind spots" and had knowledge of radio-electronic countermeasures.
According to further investigation, this volunteer was probably associated with the Mexican special forces unit GAFE, some of whose fighters went over to the side of crime and founded the Los Zetas cartel.
The investigation also mentions that at least three former FARC fighters passed through the International Legion - they used fake Panamanian and Venezuelan documents.
"We accepted volunteers with good intentions. But we must admit: Ukraine has become a global platform for the spread of FPV tactics," the publication quotes one of the SBU leaders as saying.
He added that "some people come here to learn how to kill with a $ 400 drone, and then sell that knowledge to whoever pays the most."