Ultralight Aircraft Drops 130 Pounds of Meth and Getaway Bike Over Mexico Border

Border patrol agents arrested two people as they attempted to pick up 130 pounds of meth that had been dropped over the U.S.-Mexico border by an ultralight aircraft on Dec. 16.

Video footage released by the border control shows a microlight (a powered adaptation of a hang glider) flying with no lights just north of Calexico in California, before turning back toward Mexico after jettisoning its load.

In addition to the $1.4 million worth of methamphetamine, the payload included a getaway vehicle—a bicycle.

“Two people were arrested in the drop zone, suspected of being the pickup team,” said a statement by the CBP.

Agents found two brown zippered bags lying under heavy brush in the middle of an agricultural field, along with a metal cage and the bicycle.

The two suspects and the drugs were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration for further investigation.

“Ultralight aircraft not only pose a threat to legitimate air traffic in the vicinity, but also to national security,” Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez told the Desert Sun, “These aircraft are able to carry small payloads of dangerous cargo or dangerous people.”

Smugglers typically don’t use ultralights to ferry meth, which can be carried via other methods, but marijuana. 

The pilot of an ultralight aircraft died back in 2009 when he crashed into a lettuce field in Arizona, weighed down fatally by 141 pounds of marijuana he was carrying from Mexico.

Drones Used to Identify Border Weakness

In 2013, border agents arrested two men near San Diego after a botched airdrop of 260 pounds of marijuana by an ultralight. 

Ultralights have been used on and off since the 1980s by cartels in response to shifting border security tactics.

Bags containing $1.4 of meth, dropped from an ultralight aircraft, found by US border control near Calexico, California, on Dec. 16, 2018. CBP

“Ultralights are primarily used to transport marijuana shipments, depositing the drugs in close proximity to the South West Border,” according to the 2017 National Drugs Assessment.

Smuggling drugs through border checks, concealed on pedestrians and in cars is the preferred smuggling method for methamphetamine and opiates, according to the report. But the giveaway odor of marijuana is harder to mask, and the drug is far bulkier, so cartels resort to using tunnels—and the occasional air-drop.

Various aerial methods are used to conduct airdrops,  including the use of drones (UASs).

“Currently, UASs can only convey small multi-kilogram amounts of illicit drugs at a time and are therefore not commonly used, though there is potential for increased growth and use,” according to the report.

Drones are also used by cartels to monitor the activity of U.S. law enforcement along the border and to identify cross-border vulnerabilities.

“Heroin is still transported by express consignment packages and couriers on commercial aircraft, although there appear to be declines in these methods.”

The other major smuggling method is through tunnels.

Just over 230 tunnels have been found on the U.S.-Mexico border since 1990, according to the latest annual report from the DEA.

Nearly 200 of these actually crossed into the United States territory, though the majority of them do not reach the surface on the U.S. side.

“Underground tunnels are mainly used to smuggle ton quantities of marijuana, though there are instances of other illicit drugs commingled in shipments,” according to the assessment.