In 1959, Belgian physician Paul Janssen first synthesized fentanyl, a drug intended for use under medical supervision for sedation and pain management. It was approved for medical use in the United States in 1968. By 2019, fentanyl became the most widely used synthetic opioid in the U.S. and one of the most commonly prescribed drugs. As with other opioids, fentanyl is highly addictive and has contributed to the opioid epidemic.

Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin. However, even in tiny doses, the drug can quickly lead to overdose. In 2021, the highest number of reported drug overdoses in the United States occurred, with 71,000 of the 107,000 documented deaths being directly linked to fentanyl.

Fentanyl is perhaps the greatest threat to the world’s war on drugs. According to a 2020 DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Intelligence Report titled Fentanyl Flow to the United States, Mexico and China are considered the primary suppliers of fentanyl. There is a major push to control drugs coming in through ports and along borders, but these efforts often seem futile. In early February 2025, Representative Brian Babin, a Republican from Texas and the co-chair of the Border Security Caucus, suggested using drones to gain an upper hand in the fentanyl crisis.

He went on to say that Mexican cartels had begun using weaponized drones along the border to transport fentanyl into the U.S. He did not mention whether the United States was already using drones, but since President Trump declared these cartels to be terrorists, he said the use of drones could soon become a reality. “Everything’s on the table, and we could absolutely take that type of action against them to save American lives, to save our property, to save our sovereignty,” Rep. Babin said. A few weeks after Rep. Babin’s comments, it was revealed that the United States had, in fact, been using drones to target Mexican drug cartels.

The use of drones for gathering intelligence on Mexican cartels began as an undisclosed operation during the Biden administration, and it is an effort that the Trump administration continues. Orchestrated by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), the agency’s director, John Ratcliffe, has been flying MQ-9 Reaper drones into Mexico to gather intelligence on cartels. Designed by San Diego-based defense contractor General Atomics, the Reaper (along with the Predator) class of drones were the first mainstream drones to attract worldwide attention. These drones were first used in military operations in the early 2000s and have since paved the way for how drones could reshape military operations.

Specifically, the drones are used to locate fentanyl labs by identifying the chemical signatures emitted during the production of the drug. The drones are equipped with cameras and sensors that can differentiate chemicals associated with fentanyl. Once a lab is identified, the CIA notifies Mexican authorities, who then take responsibility for making arrests and dismantling the lab. Mexico has stated that the United States has not violated any international airspace laws during these covert operations. At the same time, the United States has acknowledged that the Mexican government has stepped up its forces along the border to increase security.

As of now, the drones are strictly used for reconnaissance, though Rep. Babin and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have suggested that weaponization of the drones is a possibility. “Countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a priority for the CIA as a part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to end the grave threat from narco-trafficking,” said a representative for the CIA. “Director Ratcliffe is determined to put the CIA’s unique expertise to work against this multi-faceted challenge.”

President Trump has made it clear that he expects cartel-run fentanyl labs to be fully dismantled. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has stated that Mexico fully intends to collaborate with the United States upon shared information. If the drone-supported data on these labs does not lead to their complete dismantlement, there is a chance that U.S. forces will intervene to carry out the destruction of these labs. As fentanyl continues to devastate communities across the United States, efforts to curb its spread have become more urgent than ever. The use of drones in the war on drugs marks a new chapter in the battle against this deadly epidemic.

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