US reopens airspace over El Paso after claim of cartel drone infiltration

The Trump administration’s swift reversal has provoked questions about the legitimacy of the foreign drone claims.Passengers queue at El Paso International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its temporary closure of the local airspace [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]Published On 11 Feb 2026United States aviation authorities have announced that the airspace over El Paso, Texas, has been reopened after initially closing the airspace due to an alleged drone incursion from a Mexican cartel.Wednesday’s announcement walked back an earlier statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), abruptly pausing air traffic over the southern border city for 10 days.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Mexico sends 37 more drug cartel suspects to US amid Trump attack threatslist 2 of 3US air authority warns of ‘military activities’ over Mexico, South Americalist 3 of 3FBI arrests ex-Canadian snowboard Olympian turned alleged drug lordend of listSuch a closure would have been unprecedented. By late morning, though, the FAA announced that flights would resume in and out of the area as normal, prompting questions about the legitimacy of the drone claims.“The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted. There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal,” the agency said in a social media post.El Paso is one of the largest cities in Texas, and it is located on the banks of the Rio Grande River, directly across from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.Securing border areas, however, has been a focus of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.The Trump administration has asserted that Wednesday’s brief airspace closure was a result of a drone operated by a Mexican drug cartel infiltrating US airspace. It has since suggested the drone was destroyed.“The FAA and [the Department of Defense] acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on social media at 9:37 US Eastern time (14:37 GMT).“The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.”But the Mexican government has not confirmed the drone incursion.At her morning news conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters, “There is no information about drone use on the border,” but she added that the security cabinet would investigate the incident.Anonymous US officials have told media outlets like CNN and CBS News that the sudden airspace closure may have been a false alarm, caused by the US military’s tests of its laser-based counter-drone system near El Paso.CBS and Fox News also reported that, earlier this week, a party balloon was misidentified as a drone, prompting it to be shot down, according to official sources.The El Paso airspace closure began abruptly late on Tuesday night and lasted until early Wednesday morning.Still, the Trump administration framed the airspace closure as evidence of the threat from Mexican cartels.Speaking to lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi cited the alleged drone incident as she spoke of “striking crucial blows against terrorist organisations”.“I think you’ve seen the news this morning,” Bondi told Congress members. “The news is reporting that cartel drones are being shot down by our military. That’s what we all should care about right now: protecting America.”The Trump administration has frequently referred to criminal groups operating in Mexico as a threat to US national security.Since taking office on January 20, 2025, Trump has started designating cartels across Latin America as “foreign terrorist organisations”, spurring fears that the US could launch aggressive, cross-border military actions.Trump himself has threatened to strike drug trafficking groups in Mexican territory, despite criticism that such an attack would constitute a violation of Mexican sovereignty.Already, Trump has authorised military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, on the pretext of disrupting international drug trafficking. He has alluded to land-based targets as an extension of that military campaign.“We are going to start now hitting land. With regard to the cartels, the cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview published on January 9.“You see what’s happened to that country. But the cartels are running it.”Some elected officials, however, have expressed scepticism about the Trump administration’s claims about a drone incursion on Wednesday. Democratic Congress member Veronica Escobar, who represents El Paso, was among those asking for more information.“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said during a news conference.