Fictio Iuris
If it is already challenging to conceive and implement strategies to combat drug trafficking and the resulting violence, what lies ahead makes it nearly impossible. Just ask the residents of Buenavista de los Hurtado, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, where on January 5th of this year, cartels made their presence felt through an aerial attack using drones, complemented by armed men aiming to eliminate all inhabitants.
This new reality contrasts with traditional practices of police and military authorities, which involved securing a town or city threatened by cartels, preventing anyone from entering or leaving without permission. These practices seem to be becoming outdated in the face of airborne attacks carried out by drug traffickers and organized crime for some time now.
The use of drones for attacks has traditionally been associated with armies and future weaponry. However, the fact that criminal groups now possess them raises several issues, all underscored by the urgency and alarm of addressing a situation for which authorities and the law seem unprepared. Drones of various sizes can be acquired and customized anywhere, but when we talk about drones for attacks, we are dealing with a completely different scenario. Arms dealers are present, and there may even be diversions of armaments from high spheres—historically linked to organized crime, as seen in the case of Mexico's former Secretary of Security, Genaro García Luna, who was convicted last year by the Federal Court of the Eastern District of New York (USA) for narcotics-related activities.
The outlook on the horizon is as complicated as it is perhaps despairing. Legislators and authorities will have to confront a new form of violence from organized crime groups—a violence that comes not by land or water but takes advantage of technology to facilitate aerial attacks that are difficult to detect, surprising, and consequently devastating. Aerial attacks have a characteristic of causing extensive destruction due to the vulnerability of the population, as witnessed in tragic events such as the bombing of Gernika in 1937 in Spain or the nuclear attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The intervention of authorities is not only necessary but also urgent to address the new reality of drones being maliciously employed. This involves regulating their operation, capabilities, and even acquisition, with the ultimate goal of overseeing these and other devices that could be used for illegal activities.
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