Mexican authorities announced on Friday that they have detected and seized 24 drug cartel surveillance cameras mounted on telephone and light posts in San Luis Rio Colorado, a city on the border with Arizona.
This city has experienced years of violence as drug cartels battle for control of the border crossing, a key point for smuggling drugs.
Prosecutors in Sonora state reported that the cameras were installed by “falcons,” a term used in Mexico for cartel lookouts who monitor the movements of soldiers and police.
Army troops removed the devices, which appeared to be common porch-style cameras wrapped in duct tape. They were discovered in three different neighborhoods, with some even attached to palm trees.
San Luis Rio Colorado, located across from Yuma, Arizona, is known as a border town where Americans seek affordable prescriptions and dental work. However, it has increasingly been affected by drug cartel violence.
This is not the first instance of cartels installing surveillance networks in border cities.
In 2015, a drug cartel in Tamaulipas state used at least 39 surveillance cameras to monitor authorities in Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas. These cameras were powered by electric lines and accessed the internet through phone cables, equipped with modems and capable of operating wirelessly or through commercial providers’ lines.
Several cameras were aimed at an army base, while others monitored a marine post, offices of the attorney general and state police, as well as shopping centers, major roads, and some neighborhoods.
Throughout 2015, authorities also discovered 55 radio communication antennas between the border cities of Matamoros and Miguel Aleman.
Source: 12 News
