US Customs and Border Protection has been surreptitiously flying Predator drones into Mexico for two years, helping Mexican authorities spy on suspected drug traffickers, The Associated Press has learned. The border security agency's surveillance flights, approved by Mexico but never announced by either country, predate occasional flights into Mexico by the US Air Force's $38 million Global Hawk drone that began last month.
Mexico's National Security Council said in a statement Wednesday that unmanned aircraft have flown over Mexico on specific occasions, mainly along the border with the US, to gather information at the request of the Mexican government.