Government Plans To Fight Cartel Tactics With Anti-Drone Gas Bullets

The government of Mexico has started to develop special gas bullets which are designed to take down drones being used by cartel members.

The following is a direct translation of an article written by journalist Gaspar Vela for Milenio newspaper that was released on November 12, 2021.

The Army (SEDENA) is seeking to develop municiones de gas [translates as gas ammunition or gas bullets, similar to CO2 pellets] to neutralize the various types of drones used by criminal groups, such as the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generation, in different parts of the country, mainly in Michoacán. 

SEDENA wants these gas bullets to be less lethal and of 40 mm caliber, in order to be able to use them also in non-drone actions and operations of the federal forces, where different levels of force are required. 

The General Directorate of War Materials is carrying out a study in order to create these [special types of] ammunition. The Ministry of National Defense has allocated $15,940,066 pesos [approximately $776,787.00 USD] for this project, which began in March 2020 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2022, according to a report published on the National Transparency Platform. 

MILENIO has documented that organized crime groups, mainly the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation, have intensified in recent months the use of drones loaded with explosives to attack security institutions. 

This criminal group has used these devices most frequently in municipalities such as Tepalcatepec, Aguililla and Coalcoman, in the state of Michoacan, but also in the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato. This Wednesday, an armed group of the CJNG used drones in the communities of Taixtán and Plaza Vieja in the municipality of Tepalcatepec, leaving eight members of the army wounded, five of them seriously.

On April 21, the Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, acknowledged that drug cartels use drones with explosives to attack security forces, although he assured that they have not been effective. 

“Regarding the use of drones as an explosive means, we have found that there are some cartels that are using this, such as the Jalisco Cartel New Generation. There have been some cases in Guanajuato, other cases in Jalisco, this one right now in Michoacan. They are of concern, but they have not been as effective, perhaps, as they would like to be, they have not been as effective, because they cannot carry quantities that are so harmful to the personnel, or to any situation,” assured the secretary general. 

Gas munitions or bullets are projected from a weapon, and once they hit the target, they create a cloud around it. They are considered less lethal, but their use is not endorsed by some international organizations. According to the Library of the National Congress of Chile, these projectiles have been used mainly in mobilizations in South American countries, as well as in Turkey, Egypt and Iran.