Wednesday, October 15, 2025

The Ukraine war is increasingly equipping and empowering drug cartels

 

South American drug cartels are deliberately sending some of their best fighting men and women to Ukraine, to learn how to use drones against an enemy, and how to convert ordinary civilian models into killing machines.  Because this is a growing danger within the USA as well, I'll provide an extended quote from the article.


Mexican intelligence officials tipped off their Ukrainian counterparts in July.

They warned Kyiv that cartel members were infiltrating Ukraine’s foreign ­fighter cadres to learn how to fly first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones, which give pilots a bird’s-eye view of the target as they close in with an explosive payload.

Mexico’s warring drug cartels, who are engaged in their own drone arms race, now appear to be adopting the technology.

Last week, footage emerged for the first time of Sinaloa cartel sicarios, or hitmen, brandishing a new “fibre-optic” FPV drone, a model pioneered in Ukraine that is controlled by cable rather than radio signal to evade jamming devices.

“Ukraine has become a platform for the global dissemination of FPV tactics,” a security official in Kyiv told Intelligence Online, a French security website that first broke news of the investigation into Eagle 7.

“Some come to learn how to kill with a $400 drone, then sell that knowledge to whoever pays the highest price.”

Quite how many cartel hitmen have gone to Ukraine for drone “training” ­remains a mystery. The investigation in the summer is understood to have discovered at least three former members of Colombia’s disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla movement, heavily involved in cocaine trafficking.

It would not be hard for a cartel member to blend in these days in Ukraine, as the International Legion is ­increasingly relying on Latin American recruits.

Most are from Colombia, where large numbers of former security personnel have found themselves jobless in the wake of the landmark 2016 peace deal with the Farc.

. . .

It is thought that several thousand have served in the International Legion over the past three years, with up to 300 killed.

Cartel members are understood to be taking advantage of the fact that Kyiv has limited means to vet overseas recruits properly.

“We’re seeing reports in recent months that both Mexican cartels and Colombian criminal groups are trying to infiltrate the Ukrainian military to learn techniques that they can take back to Latin America,” Alexander Marciniak, a Latin American intelligence analyst for Sibylline, a private intelligence firm, told The Telegraph.

“The cartels can use drones for all sorts of purposes, attacks and surveillance on each other and on the security forces, and for smuggling contraband.”

Mexico has seen a huge surge in the use of attack drones in recent years, from just a handful of incidents in 2020 up to more than 40 per month by 2023. It reflects a growing militarisation of the drug gangs, with cartels hiring professional ex-soldiers, many of them from Colombia, to give them an edge.

. . .

As well as getting access to vast ­arrays of weaponry, foreign volunteers can also learn a range of techniques for building home-made attack drones, many of them circulated on DIY-style instruction videos.

Meanwhile, both Colombia and Mexico face growing US pressure to crack down on cartels, following Donald Trump’s announcement that designated Mexican cartels would now be treated as “narco-terrorist” groups rather than street gangs because of their growing firepower.

Four suspected drug boats have been destroyed by US drone strikes in the Caribbean, and Mr Trump has also hinted he could send US troops into Mexico. Colombia is considering a bill to outlaw its soldiers from enlisting as mercenaries.

Critics, however, say that banning them from legitimate work could simply drive more into the ranks of the cartels.


There's more at the link.

This would also help to explain why the USA is ramping up its operations against drug cartels in several South American countries, including (that we know of) Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.  If US forces and law enforcement agencies can "get ahead" of such technological advances, they can keep the danger at arms' length, so to speak.  However, if cartels are already carrying out tens of operations every month (again, those are just the ones we know about), it may be too late for such delaying tactics to succeed - and drones may make such operations a lot more dangerous for those tasked with them.

This points to a growing internal security problem inside our borders.  What if the current Antifa/BLM/far-left/progressive demonstrations are suddenly augmented by attack drones aimed at law enforcement trying to control the unrest?  Our police aren't equipped or trained to deal with such weapons, and it's hard to see how civilian law enforcement could be so equipped without transgressing a number of constitutional rights and issues.  Nevertheless, I'd say it's increasingly likely that they will face such dangers.  It's in the cartels' best interests to disrupt law enforcement, for different reasons, but towards the same end - making parts of the country ungovernable, so they can take advantage of that for criminal rather than political advantage.

Those of us who regard personal preparedness and willingness to resist crime and violence have some hard thinking to do here.  We don't (generally) have access to such technology;  but without it, we'll be several plays behind the game, and much more vulnerable.  That applies particularly to larger cities within which the users of such drones will find it easier to conceal themselves and operate untraceably.

Matt Bracken has written extensively on the growing danger of drone warfare within the USA.  I highly recommend that you read his article on the subject, complete with many photographs.  I think all of us will do well to consider how this danger may affect us, in our own regions and circumstances, and plan accordingly.

Peter


Tuesday, October 14, 2025

President Trump and the Nobel Peace Prize

 

I've been getting awfully fed up with the brouhaha over whether President Trump should/should have/ever will win the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the first place, previous winners of the Prize have comprehensively dishonored and discredited it merely due to their inclusion on the winners' roster.  Lawdog puts this nicely in perspective, so I won't repeat the details here.

My main objection is simply that the Nobel committee has demonstrated, repeatedly, that they're merely a collection of politically correct idiots.  I remember how disgusted I was when former President Obama received the award.  He had done (and has never done) anything even remotely justifying his receiving it.  He was (and remains) a political hack, a tool in the hands of those manipulating him, and they never allowed him to achieve anything positive.  It was a cretinous move to award him the Peace Prize, because anyone with a couple of working brain cells to rub together could figure that out for themselves;  and if he had any personal integrity at all, he should have refused the Prize, to demonstrate that he wasn't completely a puppet of outside forces.

Since his acceptance of the Peace Prize, it's been irredeemably dishonored in my eyes, and in the eyes of many around the world.  I don't want President Trump to be awarded the Peace Prize, and if he is, I want him to refuse to accept it.  Why would anyone with any self-respect want to be numbered among a bunch of losers like that?




Peter


A school massacre narrowly averted

 

Full marks to two Florida teens who came across a TikTok video last month, and in the process averted a tragedy.

The video included a five-second clip of the interior plans of an unidentified building, along with disturbing elements suggesting violence.  After talking with a friend, the teens contacted the authorities in Florida and told them about the video clip.  The authorities had nothing to go on except the clip, but from the video the FBI were able to identify the building as a school in Kennewick, Washington.

The federal authorities immediately contacted law enforcement, and a combined team tried to narrow down the identity and location of whoever had posted the video clip.  The story of how they did so is interesting detective work in itself.  Through hard work and some lucky breaks, they were able to identify and arrest the fourteen-year-old would-be perpetrator, Mason Bently-Ray Ashby, before his planned attack.


A screenshot that was deleted about 7 p.m. Sept 20, about 45 minutes before the search warrant of Ashby's home was executed, had the beginning of a manifesto, according to court documents.

"Hey, you found my manifesto I am sure you will all be laughing at me by the time you figure out who I am and why I did what I did ...," it said. "I'm sure my Discord and other social media will be released nearly instantly after the massacre."

The manifesto said he had sent photos to friends and, "Hell, maybe, I'll even record the attack and send it to a select few."


There's more at the link.

If convicted of the offense, Ashby can only be incarcerated until the age of 21, because he's still too young to be charged as an adult.  That's a whole new set of problems for the justice system to deal with as the case progresses.  There's also the issue of why parents weren't given more warning, and more information, as soon as the danger was known.  Some of them are asking very pointed questions about that, pointing out that it left their children in danger.  I find it hard to disagree with them.

Whatever the ultimate outcome, I hope somebody acknowledges and rewards the initiative shown by those two Florida teens.  I think it's beyond reasonable doubt that they prevented a school massacre.

Peter


Monday, October 13, 2025

Antifa: smoke and mirrors, gaslighting and astroturfing

 

All the attention being paid to Antifa and its minions and associated organizations is clearly making the organization very uncomfortable indeed.  One of its leading lights (such as it is), Prof. Mark Bray, has fled to Europe to avoid what he will doubtless categorize as "persecution", and other leaders are either "taking the gap" with him or trying to avoid public identification in the USA.

Another tactic is to issue "talking points" to left-wing commentators to deny that Antifa even exists.  It's so blatant it would be funny, if it weren't so dishonest.  See for yourself in this montage of TV commenters all agreeing with each other.  It's a tactic we've seen many times before - gaslight the opposition, pretend something isn't so when it very clearly is, and try to obfuscate the issue at every turn.  (A helpful question to deniers:  if it doesn't exist, why is Prof. Bray's book about the organization still a best-seller?)



As a general rule of thumb, I think the safest approach is to assume that any far-left-wing progressive source, or claim, or allegation is a lie from start to finish.  They can't be trusted, because they can't be truthful.  It's like some pathological obsession with them.  When presented with conclusive video evidence and eye-witness confirmation, they simply reject it as false rather than engage with it.  They're what Robert Heinlein would have referred to as "yammerheads", trying to talk over and drown out the opposition and defy reality.

The lies and confrontations are only going to get worse from now on.  We have a very difficult period ahead of us as the present Administration tries very hard to remove the excrescences that have defiled the US body politic, and return us to the rule of law.  Let's not allow excrescences like Antifa to disrupt public understanding of what's really happening out there.

Peter


Memes that made me laugh 281

 

Gathered from around the Internet over the past week.  Click any image for a larger view.







Sunday, October 12, 2025

Sunday morning music

 

We lost another big name from the 1960's last week.  John Lodge, guitarist and backup vocalist for the Moody Blues, passed away.  He had a pretty profound impact on the group, based partly on his poetic lyrical vision of music and partly on his unabashed Christian faith, which he refused to hide despite the rest of the group not sharing his views.

In memory of Mr. Lodge, here are three tracks that he composed and/or performed.  First up is "Blue Guitar", composed and recorded with Justin Hayward during a five-year hiatus for the Moody Blues.




Next is the short number "Send Me No Wine" from the Moody Blues album "On The Threshold Of A Dream".




And to close, one of the Moody Blues' most famous songs, co-written by John Lodge.




May he rest in peace.

Peter


Friday, October 10, 2025

Another bleg for two dear friends

 

Tirzah and James Burns are close friends of my wife and myself.  If I recall correctly, we met Tirzah even before she met James.  I officiated at their wedding in 2013, and baptized their son and daughter a few years later at Libertycon in Chattanooga, where they live.



James has developed severe problems with his pancreas, to the point that a few weeks ago, doctors weren't certain whether he'd be able to survive them.  They've managed to get things back into some sort of balance, but there's a long way still to go.  Meanwhile, of course, James' income has dried up.  We and other friends have helped as best we can, but more is needed.

Oleg Volk, also a long-standing friend of the Burns, has therefore started a fundraiser for their medical and other expenses.  May I ask you to help the Burns family in their great need?  They're very good people, and are beloved of Dot and I.  Thanks in advance.

Peter


Temporary tags being misused? Say it ain't so...

 

I noted this report with cynical amusement.


The general manager of a DeLand car dealership was arrested Oct. 7 on a warrant after failing to appear in court in September on charges he did not register temporary tags on vehicles he was selling, court documents show.

. . .

Florida troopers started investigating the dealership's temporary tags after an unregistered one was found on a vehicle during a traffic stop March 3.

The report states that the driver of the Ford Escape stopped by a trooper said she bought the vehicle with the unregistered temporary tag from DeLand Reliable Cars and Trucks.

The driver of the Ford Escape was cited for not having a vehicle registration.

Troopers said the temporary tag was not registered and the Department of Motor Vehicles did not have any information on file for the tag attached to the Ford Escape.

Troopers towed the Ford Escape and requested an audit be done on DeLand Reliable Cars and Trucks, according to court documents.

. . .

Investigators discovered that the dealership had issued four different unregistered temporary tags to the driver of the Ford Escape, an arrest report shows.

Investigators said they also found 20 temporary tag numbers issued to DeLand Reliable Cars and Trucks that were never registered to a person or vehicle but were found attached to cars at the dealership.

"(The vehicles) were driven on public roadways throughout the state of Florida," investigators noted in their report.


There's more at the link.

It reminded me of multiple incidents after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  I reported at the time:


I've ... heard reports from Texas, Alabama and Tennessee of brand-new high-end motor vehicles (e.g. Cadillacs, Lincolns, BMW's, etc.), with New Orleans dealer tags, being driven through various towns on their way North and West. The drivers were described as "gang-bangers" (and sundry less complimentary terms). However, there have been no reports of stolen vehicles from New Orleans, because there are no workers to check out dealer lots, or report thefts, and no working computers to enter VIN's, etc. into the NICS database of stolen vehicles - so officers have had no choice but to let these vehicles proceed. Draw your own conclusions.


Many of those vehicles turned out to have been stolen, but in the absence of any way to check on the validity (or otherwise) of their temporary tags, they couldn't be detained by local cops as they were ferried to whatever their final destination might be.  I understand many ended up being sold on the West Coast or in the Midwest.  Still others, I'm sure, found their way to Mexico and points south.

Do I believe the dealer's manager when he protested his innocence about the misuse of dealer tags?  Like hell I do!  It's a common tactic when a dealer - even an employee at a dealer who has access to the tags - makes a deal with criminals.  If they have 24 to 48 hours to get a head start, they can evade or avoid detection and pursuit until they and their stolen vehicles are safely out of the original jurisdiction.  In the case of Florida, a 48-hour period without questions being asked will allow the thieves to drive the vehicles all the way to Mexico - and once they're across that border, say goodbye to them for good.

Another problem is that if such vehicles are involved in accidents, they frequently have no insurance coverage at all.  If you're in a fender-bender with a car with a temporary tag, make sure to call a cop to the scene, and ask them to verify the tag number and insurance status.  If the other driver does his best to stop you doing that, be very suspicious.  If you fail to do that, your own insurance company might say that you're partly to blame for the costs of repairing your own vehicle, because you didn't check that the other driver's information was valid.

Something useful to file away in the old memory banks . . .

Peter