Airspace in El Paso was reportedly closed due to CBP’s use of an anti-drone laser

The hours-long closure of El Paso’s airspace was the result of the use of an anti-drone laser deployed by Customs and Border Protection, according to the British Daily Mail. Reports from New York Times and news agency. Sources say the times And that Customs and Border Protection officials did not give the FAA “adequate time to assess the risks to commercial aircraft,” leading to the sudden closure.

Wednesday, The Federal Aviation Administration closed the airspace around El Paso International Airport, due to “private security reasons.” The move affected commercial flights and emergency medical transport. Although the agency initially said the closure would last for 10 days, it reopened the airspace only hours later. At the time, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Share on X “The Angolan Armed Forces and the Ministry of War acted quickly to counter the incursion of the cartel’s drones,” he added, adding that “the threat has been neutralized.”

New York Times Reports state that CBP officials “thought they were shooting at the gang’s drone,” but it was actually a party balloon. Sources say CBS News This balloon has been dropped. The Pentagon has reportedly provided CBP with anti-laser technology. Customs and Border Protection deployed the laser in response to drones that Trump administration officials claim are being used by Mexican cartels Drug smuggling and surveillance by Border Patrol agentsAs he pointed out New York Times. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum He has retracted these allegations.

Reuters Reports The anti-drone technology used is AeroVironment’s LOCUST, a 20-kilowatt direct-powered weapon designed to shoot down drones. CBP worked with the Pentagon to deploy the laser near Fort Bliss, a US Army base in El Paso, “without coordination with the FAA,” the FAA said. news agency.

Lawmakers are pressing Trump administration officials for answers about the airspace closures, with Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) Saying federal agencies It must provide “a full account of what occurred in U.S. airspace, whether proper safety protocols were followed, and why public communications appear to have been inconsistent.” Texas Representative Veronica Escobar says the airspace closure was “the result of incompetence at the highest levels of the administration” and that she is working to get “all the answers we deserve.”