ADS-B Data Indicates GPS Jamming Occurring On Southern Border With Mexico

Data from ADS-B Exchange indicates that there has been intermittent GPS level interference (GPS jamming) occurring on the U.S. southern border with Mexico, in the Piedras Negras area across the border from Texas.

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We have obtained screenshots from gpsjam.org showing the intermittent interference in that location (dates of the snapshot are in the upper left-hand corner of each screenshot). Interference of some kind is covering the entire area around Piedras Negras, including areas both in Mexico as well as over the border in Texas.

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What is GPS signal jamming? It is a method of blocking or interfering with radio communications frequencies, including phones and phone calls, GPS systems, text messaging, and even Wifi networks. Jammers were originally developed by the military to confuse enemies about target locations but have since become widely used outside of the military in order to disrupt communications and internet coverage.

GPS signal jamming devices and "spoofers" are readily available to purchase online, but are illegal in the United States and Canada. A report by NBC news in August of 2016 stated that "illegal jamming devices are now commonly used in the drug trade, cargo theft and by scofflaw drivers," and asked if "spoofing" is next.
In 2016 Department of Homeland Security program manager Timothy Bennett said "The bad guys on the borders have lots of money, and what they’re putting money into is in spoofing and jamming of GPS [systems]".

In 2015, the Department of Homeland Security reported that "current-generation unmanned systems are vulnerable to spoofing, hacking, and jamming."
Dana Goward, president, and executive director of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation said in 2016 that "We're highly dependent on (GPS) in pretty much every part of our economy and security, yet it's very easy to disrupt. I think the general consensus is that any outage of more than an hour or two would be pretty unpleasant."

David Last, professor emeritus at the University of Bangor in Wales and past president of the Royal Institute of Navigation, spoke to NBC News in 2016 and said, "Any respectable criminal involved in that kind of (cargo) hijacking is going to employ jammers as part of their armory. There is no reason why they shouldn't and every reason why they should".

The Mexican Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which Forbes says is suspected of controlling about a third of the illegal drugs entering the United States has been reported to be using drones to drop bombs on targets (usually against other gangs) and reportedly has the ability to evade jamming devices.

The New York Times reported on July 25th, 2022 that smuggling migrants through the Mexican border into the United States is now a "billion-dollar business", and with human smuggling on the rise, organized crime has increased along with it, according to the NYT report.

An Anti-Jammer Law was passed in Mexico on January 25th, 2020 that "prohibits the fabrication, sale, distribution, purchase, installation, possession, and use of any device that interferes with wireless communications," according to Sensitech, a provider of supply chain visibility solutions. They said "These devices, commonly known as jammers, are frequently used by cargo thieves to block GPS signals and cellphone communications, greatly decreasing the possibilities of recovering stolen cargo units. Any such offense will be punishable by 12 to 15 years in prison."

Mexican newspaper El Economista reported in January of 2020 that jammers had been used to block communications and wireless broadcasts in 85% of 3,400 of recorded cargo truck thefts in Mexico. The paper said that "In the case of robberies on national highways, the routes most subject to crimes with the input of the "jammers" are the San Martín Texmelucan-La Tinaja de Veracruz corridor; Querétaro-Celaya-Salamanca and Cuautitlán-Querétaro, Arco Norte and Circuito Exterior Mexiquense."

Not only have human smuggling and crime increased on the border, but the cartels are using the massive profits to upgrade their technological capabilities. According to Judicial Watch Mexican cartels flew about 9,000 drone flights into the United States in order to surveil law enforcement operations on the southern border. Judicial Watch said that federal officials spoke to them and said the cartels are using the UAV surveillance flights to "facilitate human smuggling and drug trafficking."

Brandon Judd, the president of the union representing the nation’s 20,000 Border Patrol agents reportedly told Judicial Watch that they are using drones to smuggle drugs into the United States. "They are dropping fentanyl. They fly into certain locations, drop them to the ground, and fentanyl is taken off of them and they take back off into Mexico.” he reportedly said.

Screenshots taken at different dates (as shown at the top left of each image):

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