(Washington) Drones belonging to Mexican drug trafficking cartels entered US airspace on Wednesday, a US government official told AFP, shortly after the surprise closure and then reopening of flights at El Paso airport.
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The Pentagon has “taken measures to put drones out of use” and determined with the air regulator, the FAA, that there was “no threat to commercial transport,” said this same source on condition of anonymity.
“The temporary airspace closure over El Paso is lifted. Commercial aviation is not threatened. All flights resume normally,” the FAA said on X, after the suspension of flights at El Paso International Airport for “security reasons.”
Earlier in the day, the FAA said all flights to or from El Paso International Airport were suspended for ten days for “security reasons.”
“No pilot is authorized to fly an aircraft in the areas affected by this notice,” the FAA said on its site.
El Paso, is a border city in Mexico and the 23e most populous city in the United States.
“Based on the information my office and I were able to gather overnight and early this morning, there is no immediate threat to the community in the surrounding areas,” Veronica Escobar, who represents the city of El Paso in Congress, wrote on X.
