() Drones have been used to survey the U.S.-Mexico border for more than 20 years, but relying on unmanned aircraft to help law enforcement track migrant criminals and cartel traffickers remains a sophisticated technological operation that requires constant upgrading.

That is especially true in rural areas like Cochise County, Arizona, where drones have provided the local sheriff’s department with aerial views of 6,200 square miles of terrain that line 83 border miles for several years. But in a rural setting that includes wide swaths of desert and 10,000-foot mountain peaks, aging aircraft with limited battery life add to the challenge of effectively manning the border.

Drones that were considered state-of-the-art just three years ago are now available in the toy department of the local Walmart, Capt. Tim Williams, who oversees the department’s Special Operations division, said.

But the Cochise County department is part of a pilot program partnered with the world’s oldest drone manufacturer. Hybrid-style drones being developed by Canadian tech company Draganfly will offer the Arizona department with unmanned aircraft that measures 9 feet wide, can travel up to 75 mph and can help apprehend criminals.

Williams calls the upgrade a “100% force multiplier” that, once fully operational in 2026, will eliminate much of the guessing game associated with securing the border.

“Once (deputies) get better information, they’re off to do their mission and there’s not a lot of questions at that point,” Williams told .

How drones are used along the border

Customs and Border Protection began using the MQ-9 Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System to help monitor the U.S.-Mexico border in 2005. The agency has used a small fleet of unmanned aircraft to monitor 6,000 miles of land border and 95,000 miles of shoreline, according to the CBP website.

More recently, CBP has used drones to provide aerial support to federal agents and officers in areas like Los Angeles, where anti-ICE protests have continued. But for local law enforcement departments where working the border is part of daily operations, the need for better air support has gradually increased. unmanned aircraft as part of their personnel ever since.

That includes Cochise County, where Williams said that the batteries of existing drones are limited to about 30 minutes. Because some of the criminals the department is seeking may be up to two hours away, fighting time and dying batteries have created problems.

But once the Draganfly drones are ready for use next year, the new aircraft can remain in the air for nearly seven hours, allowing more time for deputies to get to hard-to-reach areas.

“This really opens the door for possibilities of what we can do,” Williams said.

Starting with a blank slate

Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell said that despite having existing drones and impressive artificial intelligence technology in place, the aircraft his company is developing has been “future-proofed.”

Besides extended battery life, the new drones can deliver up to 100 pounds in medical supplies, water and other items. The aircraft also includes two generators to sustain its batteries, high-resolution cameras equipped with facial recognition technology and thermal cameras that can detect body temperatures of anyone in the area.

Once the drone zeroes in on its target, the aircraft that Chell says is the size of a small vehicle and equipped with eight spinning rotors has intimidating hovering capabilities to hold suspected criminals at bay until officers and agents can arrive.

“When this thing comes at you, you’re not going anywhere,” Chell told .

The Draganfly drones are also designed to cope with the sophistication and jamming capabilities of drones being used by international criminal organizations. Ron Vitiello, a senior adviser to CBP, recently told that he suspects cartels “remain on the cutting edge of technology” and that drones “are part of their business model.”

Draganfly’s experience in combat-heavy areas around the world, like Ukraine, is also part of the future-proofing that will allow Cochise County to combat the cartels. Chell says the cartel members have vast knowledge of not only the local terrain but also of the technology local law enforcement is using.

“A lot of it comes down to where we have failed,” Williams said. “We have that experience of what we really want and what we know would be better.”

Once developed, the new stock of drones is capable of sharing real-time information with agencies within 100 miles. Visuals will arrive from a 10,000-foot aerial vantage point and will come from drones that can remain hidden from sight when the situation requires.

“That probably solves about 80% of the issues out there,” Chell, the Draganfly executive, said.

Managing data overload critical to the border mission

Despite a significant drop in illegal border crossings since January, Williams said tracking cartel and migrant criminals dressed in “head-to-toe camouflage” hoping to elude authorities remains among his unit’s top priorities.

Although Cochise County’s current drones have facial recognition and thermal capabilities, the fleet’s age limits its overall success. The Cato Institute has argued that drones are ineffective in apprehending migrant criminals, reporting that drones led to only 0.5% of migrant apprehensions between 2013 and 2016, resulting in a cost of $32,000 per arrest.

Yet, despite challenges in combating the cartels and ever-evolving technology, Chell and Williams remain confident that the drones that Cochise County anticipates will soon be part of the department’s standard operating procedure can yield positive results.

But with an array of photos, video images and real-time information all coming in at once, part of Williams’ job comes down to balancing what he is seeing and dispensing necessary information to deputies in the field. This avoids what Williams calls “data overload.”

“It all goes back to we’re trying to make our community safer,” Williams told . “With the technology and personnel we have, (new drone technology) just enhances our ability to do that better. It allows us to add another layer of technology to the border that’s going to make not only finding these individuals (easier) but (allows for) safer apprehensions and getting communities safer overall.”