I'm John Batcher. The New World Report was Professor Avan Ellis, U.S. Army War

College. We go immediately toelis, U.S. Army War College.

We go immediately to a mystery.

El Paso, Texas, a very large and sophisticated American city.

One morning woke up to hear that, according to Homeland Security and other voices of authority,

its airspace and airports were closed.

The explanation for it since then has been various, something to do with drones, something to do with a test, perhaps, and then a possible threat.

Professor, I've heard different versions of this. The one that I found strangest was that a balloon, not a party balloon, but a balloon, was perceived as a threat and that an anti-drone team or weapon was used against it.

But after that, I lost track.

What do we know?

Well, it does appear to be the drones.

The balloon may have played a role,

but what it really highlights, John,

is something across the region

that those involved with efforts against organized crime are having to deal with.

And that is that in the hands of criminals with lots of money, drones have become a problem,

not only for doing surveillance and figuring out where to cross borders or surveilling each other

to support combat operations, but also used to deliver things like delivering

drugs and things across borders, delivering cell phones into prison yards, but increasingly also

actually being used in lethal ways. And the types of drones that are available, like those cheap

Chinese DJT drones, which can actually now carry things and you can

turn it into a weapon very easily, but also the types of drones that states now, thanks to

...