Mexican special services have warned Ukraine that some volunteers who have joined the International Legion of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine may be linked to cartels, UNIAN reported.
Intelligenceonline.fr reveals that there is only one reason: these fighters want to learn how to fly combat drones and later use these skills in the criminal structures they are members of.
Ukrainian special services have received information mentioning Mexican volunteers who have joined the International Legion to learn how to fly drones, especially FPV (First person view) models. Drones have become the most important weapons in the war that Russia has launched against Ukraine. Both countries actively use them for reconnaissance and attacks.
Not only Mexicans, but also Colombian citizens were deployed in the legion. According to reports, a number of fighters showed particular interest only in drone training, ignoring other types of training. Among them is a volunteer known as Aguila-7, who joined the legion in March 2024 using fake Salvadoran documents. He is undergoing full training in drone control in Lviv. Instructors note his high level of training: he is well versed in the operation of analog transmitters, can identify thermal “blind spots” and electronic warfare systems.
An investigation has established that he may have been a former member of the Mexican special forces corps GAFE, from which some soldiers, after leaving the forces, went to organized crime, in particular, creating the drug cartel “Zetas“.
Also, according to a European security source, at least three former Colombian FARC fighters managed to join the International Legion using Panamanian or Venezuelan documents. It is possible that their crossing of the border was coordinated and financed by companies associated with drug cartels, which also organized routes through Slovakia or Moldova.
“We accepted volunteers with good intentions. But we must admit: Ukraine has become a global platform for the spread of FPV tactics. "Some come here to learn how to kill with a $400 drone, and then sell this knowledge to the highest bidder," said a Ukrainian commander.
The Ukrainian International Legion under the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense is a formation created after the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.