A training site hidden in a crumbling factory in western Ukraine has become a testing ground for the future of drone warfare by alleged members of Mexican cartels, according to a French news outlet.
The site, known as the Kill House Academy, has a reputation for producing some of Ukraine's best unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, pilots. But investigators say it has also attracted a different kind of recruit.
Among recent trainees was a pilot known as Aguila 7 or Eagle 7, who is allegedly a Mexican former special-forces soldier who joined Ukraine's International Legion.
According to the French outlet Intelligence Online, Aguila 7 is actually a member of Los Zetas, one of Mexico's most violent cartels.
He was reportedly sent to Ukraine to learn drone combat tactics for use in cartel wars.
Mexican intelligence tipped off Ukrainian authorities in July that cartel members were infiltrating foreign fighter units.
Officials said they sought to master first-person-view kamikaze drones, which are cheap aircraft loaded with explosives that have changed Ukraine's battlefields.
Now, Mexico's gangs appear to be adapting the same tools. LBC reported that the Sinaloa cartel recently displayed a new fiber-optic FPV drone, modeled on Ukrainian designs that use cable controls to evade jamming.
Ukrainian investigators also uncovered several former Colombian guerrillas among the foreign volunteers.
The group has long ties to the cocaine trade, raising fears that Ukraine's combat zone is becoming a global training ground.
Experts blame limited vetting within the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.
Formed early in the war, this military unit, made up of foreign volunteers, has been accused of overlooking criminal backgrounds to fill manpower shortages.
A Kyiv Independent investigation found that complaints of misconduct were often ignored and unverified volunteers were allowed to serve.
In 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law granting foreign soldiers the right to hold officer ranks.
Meanwhile, cartel drone attacks have skyrocketed.
CBS News reports that such attacks rose from a few in 2020 to more than 40 per month by 2023.
Armed with explosives, drones now terrorize entire towns in Mexico's cartel-dominated states.
Department of Homeland Security officials warn the threat could soon cross borders.
One official told Mexico News Daily that drone strikes by cartels near the U.S. border are only "a matter of time."
Ukrainian security sources say some foreign fighters are "learning to kill with a $400 drone, then selling that knowledge to the highest bidder."
Kyiv has begun working with Interpol and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to track cartel members posing as volunteers.
Officials fear the skills learned in Ukraine could soon return to Latin America.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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