Colombian Drug Traffickers Travel to Ukraine in Search of Drone Experts

The world was shaken this week by the image of a drone pursuing and attacking a fruit vendor in the city of Kherson, Ukraine. The aircraft, apparently Russian, corners the man until it leaves him with no way out and explodes.

Although there is ample documentation on the use of this type of weapon in that war, the video of the attack on the fruit vendor leaves a different impression: the increasingly versatile maneuverability of drones and their use in different types of attacks.

Ukraine has also specialized in this, and the experience both countries have developed in the use of drones for military purposes is reportedly attracting the attention of all kinds of criminal organizations around the world. A recent report by the Financial Times indicates that Colombian drug traffickers are seeking ways in Ukraine to learn how to pilot them.

Colombian mercenaries allegedly have ties to organized crime

According to Ulrike Franke, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Ukraine uses drones massively and asymmetrically as the backbone of its defensive and offensive strategy, making up for its shortage of artillery.

It employs reconnaissance aircraft, FPV (first-person view) drones loaded with explosives, fiber-optic-controlled systems, and long-range vehicles to strike Russian air bases, refineries, and logistics centers.

All of these capabilities have attracted Colombian criminals, according to the British newspaper, which warns that drones are already being used by other actors in the South American country’s conflict, to the point that drug cartels and rebel groups are now practically contesting and controlling the airspace.

According to the newspaper, on the Eastern European front, a Colombian soldier who volunteered for the Ukrainian army discovered that some of his fellow countrymen who were trying to fight for Ukraine had ties to organized crime in Colombia. The men were “sent home,” said Taras Palianytsia, an official at the Foreign Recruitment Center of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, as quoted by the newspaper.

Even more troubling, this would not be an isolated case. The Financial Times cites reports from Colombian illegal armed groups according to which, over the past year, those outlaw organizations have tried to send their members to learn from the Ukrainian experience in drone warfare and then return to Colombia to apply those skills against the army.

Former paramilitaries, former guerrillas, and former soldiers learn to operate drones

Franke says drones have become a fundamental weapon in the Russia-Ukraine war. “At the beginning of 2024, Ukraine set itself the goal of producing one million drones that year. In March, that target was revised to two million, and in October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the country was already capable of manufacturing up to four million drones annually.”

But Russia is not far behind and is matching that pace of production. “It is estimated that around 100 different types of drones are being used in Ukraine, ranging from toy-sized systems to larger models with a wingspan of nearly 20 meters,” Franke adds.

The outlook could hardly be more attractive for illegal organizations with military ambitions. “The recruitment strategy is very complex, but what worries me most is the level of specialization they are acquiring,” a Colombian aid worker in Ukraine who wished to remain anonymous told the English newspaper. “Here, former paramilitaries, former guerrillas, and former soldiers fight and learn together how to operate drones.”

A Colombian drone pilot in Ukraine explained, according to the Financial Times, that cartel drug traffickers recruiters are seeking training on how to handle and operate attack drones whose agility makes them more difficult to shoot down. They generally fly directly toward a target and explode upon impact, just like the one that attacked the fruit vendor in Ukraine this week.

“These FPV drones are already starting to be used in Colombia, but what they still do not know is how to encrypt the communication between the drone and the person piloting it, or how to configure the explosive payload the way they do here in Ukraine,” the pilot told the British newspaper from the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia province.