Colombian Cartels Sending Recruits to Learn Drone Warfare in Ukraine

Drug cartels is turning the war in Ukraine into a training ground for a new generation of combatants, learning modern battlefield tactics and drone warfare that could eventually be used against American law enforcement. A foreign fighter serving alongside Ukrainian forces, who uses the alias “Rex” to protect his identity, spoke with ALM about Colombian cartels sending troops to fight in Ukraine. Rex trained next to an all-Colombian unit he describes as cartel members and warns that the United States faces a growing threat it is not prepared to confront.

An estimated 2,000 Colombian soldiers are fighting for Ukraine, making them the single largest foreign nationality fighting for Kyiv. They serve in segregated units, and over 450 have gone missing in action and 550 have been killed.

“All Colombians, all cartel,” Rex said of the units.

According to Rex, Ukrainian commanders keep the Colombians separate from other foreign recruits because they do not trust them, yet continue to deploy them because Ukraine desperately needs manpower. He described a system in which foreign fighters are sent into dangerous positions while more valued personnel are reserved for other missions.

“After the lyman disaster ukraine needs to recruit more columbians for meat shields,” Rex said. “It’s cheap meat that can be put in a trench while actual assets like ukranians or western vets are moved around to do work.”

If cartel-linked fighters are gaining experience in modern combat, unmanned aircraft and battlefield coordination, the consequences could eventually reach the United States. Criminal organizations already use drones in their operations, and combat veterans who understand how to deploy them effectively could make those operations more dangerous.

Rex says the Colombians are going to Ukraine for two reasons: to gain combat experience and to learn how to use drones for guerrilla warfare. The war offers access to battlefield techniques that would be difficult to replicate through ordinary criminal training, including the use of first-person-view drones, electronic warfare and coordinated attacks.

“They are getting battle hardened soldiers who understand modern warfare better than the average border patrol agent of national guard solider who is on the border,” Rex said.

He described a brutal recruitment strategy in which a cartel could send hundreds or thousands of expendable recruits into combat, expecting only a fraction to survive. Those who return would have demonstrated their ability to survive modern warfare and could bring valuable combat skills back to their criminal organizations.

“Those that come back only survived because they were the best fighter or drone pilot amongst that group,” Rex said.

Estimates published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies put Ukrainian military fatalities between 125,000 and 150,000 from February 2022 through June 2026, with total Ukrainian military casualties estimated between 525,000 and 625,000. The scale of those losses has placed enormous pressure on Ukraine to maintain its forces as the war continues and its own citizens have fled to avoid conscription. Estimates put the number of Ukrainian men who fled abroad to avoid military service as high as 1.6 million.

The United States has also admitted large numbers of Ukrainians since the invasion began. The Biden administration launched the Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parole program in April 2022, and federal figures show that approximately 259,000 Ukrainians and eligible family members received humanitarian parole through fiscal year 2024. More than 100,000 Ukrainians had reached the United States through various channels within the first months of the invasion.

The drone threat is already real. On October 5, Reuters reported that the U.S. Army was testing counter-drone technology near the Mexican border amid a surge in cartel-operated drone activity. The military exercise included systems designed to detect and defeat small unmanned aircraft, underscoring the growing challenge posed by drones in border security operations.

The experience being gained in Ukraine could make that challenge more difficult. Battlefield drone operators learn to conduct surveillance, identify targets, coordinate attacks and adapt when opponents deploy electronic countermeasures. Those skills are valuable to criminal organizations seeking to monitor law enforcement, protect trafficking operations or attack rival groups and security personnel.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that her government was investigating a video circulating on social media that referenced the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and La Chapiza, a faction associated with the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The footage reportedly showed armed men in military clothing in Ukraine. Sheinbaum said Mexico’s security cabinet was examining the video’s authenticity and investigating how the individuals were recruited to join the conflict.

Rex believes American officials are failing to appreciate the danger.

“American law enforcement has a major drone threat on their hands and they don’t even know it,” he said.

The United States is already working to counter drones operated by cartels along its southern border, with a focus on Mexico. The next challenge could be confronting operators who have learned from one of the world’s most technologically intensive wars and come back to other Latin American countries, like Colombia. A criminal organization with experienced drone pilots and battle-tested fighters would present a more sophisticated threat than one relying on improvised tactics alone.