Illegal Flights and Their Security Risks in Mexican Airspace
A safety alert is reported every 36 hours in Mexico's airspace for aircraft linked to organized crime activities, false documentation, illegal transportation of hydrocarbons, and acts of corruption by public officials.
In Mexico's airspace, every 36 hours, a security alert is reported for aircraft linked to organized crime activities, false documentation, illegal transportation of hydrocarbons, and acts of corruption by public officials.
According to a report by the National Airspace Surveillance and Protection Center, from December 1, 2018, to November 2021, 720 alerts were issued for the interception and tracking of aircraft for probable illicit activities.
According to the document that was delivered to the Executive Branch, the operation of aircraft flagged for illicit activities represents a high-security risk as they invade airspace and commercial aviation routes.
"The most serious risk that this situation generates is the possibility of a collision between a flight incurring in the illicit use of airspace and a commercial flight.
"They also put people and communities on the ground at risk (...), because they land on rural roads, highways, streets of towns and cities, where the risk of a road accident with fatal consequences is very high," he says.
The Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), according to the document, has detected irregularities in private aviation operations and the use of airport infrastructure by organized crime.
The armed forces report states that 281 pilots, 274 aircraft, and 26 companies are under investigation for their probable links to illicit activities in Mexican airspace.
"False flight licenses, identity theft, undocumented aircraft, illegal transportation of hydrocarbons, operation of clandestine runways, officials who facilitate illegal flights by not performing their duties due to absence, omission or corruption, among others", are the main violations of the regulations highlighted in the report.
The Command of the Integrated Air Surveillance System, of the General Staff of the Sedena, highlighted that during the first three years of the current administration, 88 aircraft related to criminal acts were placed at the disposal of the authority. It was also reported that in 2019, 118 tons of cocaine were intercepted entering Mexico by air, a drug whose estimated cost amounts to 135 million pesos.
"For Mexico, this situation generates international political pressure, due to the damage to health, violence, and acts of corruption that it presupposes," alerts the report held by the Presidency of the Republic.
