Party balloon or cartel drones? Closure of El Paso airspace causes 'chaos'

The sudden and unexpected closure of the airspace over El Paso, Texas, appears to have stemmed from the US federal government conducting drone-related tests.

The 10-day closure, which ultimately ended hours after it was announced late Tuesday, caused a mass panic in the US-Mexico border city, with the mayor telling the BBC that the chaos "was completely unnecessary".

The US Department of Defense said the airspace issue was due to the military disabling drones being used by Mexican cartels.

But CBS News, the BBC's news partner, said the closure followed a test earlier this week, where an energy laser was used to shoot down what appeared to be a foreign drone, but was actually a party balloon.

"Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace. The Department of War took action to disable the drones," a Trump administration official said after the area reopened Wednesday morning.

Citing multiple sources close to the matter, CBS reported the Pentagon had planned to test new military technology - reportedly a high-energy laser - to practice taking down drones near a military base next to the El Paso airport.

Meetings to discuss the technology's safety were scheduled with the FAA, but the defence department wanted to test it sooner, prompting the FAA - which regulates airspace safety - to halt flights, according to CBS.

Hours after the announced airspace closure, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that the FAA had worked with the Pentagon to "address a cartel drone incursion" and the "restrictions have been lifted".

The BBC has not independently confirmed the reported dispute between the military and the FAA. The Pentagon declined to comment when contacted by the BBC, and a Trump administration official told the BBC that it is "in lockstep to safeguard America's national security and southern border against all foreign intrusions".

The Associated Press, New York Times and other US media on Wednesday published similar reports.

CBS reported that cartels have been using drones on the border lately but it was unclear whether the military had downed any yet using the technology that was being tested.

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson told the BBC that the city was not notified in advance about the 10-day closure, and that it spark fears from residents of a potential military conflict brewing.

"We haven't had flight restrictions like this since 9/11," he said, referring to the terror attacks on 11 September 2001, which shut down airspace across the entire US, and led to the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

"And keep in mind, in 9/11, we were only shut down at the airport for two days."

Renard added that it is still unclear to residents and city leaders why the airspace was closed, and that they have received no explanation from the FAA.

"What they were doing caused complete chaos," he said, adding: "People were confused. They didn't know what to do."

In an earlier news conference, the mayor said that medical evacuation flights were diverted because of the closure. Another flight that was carrying surgical equipment "did not show up here in El Paso".

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Wednesday that her government had "no information indicating drone activity at the border".

"If the FAA or any US government agency has relevant information, they can ask directly the Government of Mexico," she said.

Long-term airspace closures are rare. Since 2018, the FAA has cut airspace closures from an average of more than four hours per launch to just more than two hours, according to its web site.

The restriction covered a 10-mile radius around El Paso, including parts of southern New Mexico, west of the town San Teresa.

After the initial closure, El Paso International Airport said in a statement it was told "on short notice" to halt all flights and contacted the FAA for more information.

City Council member Chris Canales, who represents an area on the southwestern side of El Paso, told the BBC, "The notice was published without any advance notice to local governments or to local air traffic controllers."

The cancellations were so abrupt that people reported being told by airlines that their flights were still scheduled, even after the FAA's announcement.

"Just called (United Airlines) about my flight this morning and they said it's still scheduled to leave???" one woman commented on Instagram early Wednesday.

Some on social media speculated about broader conspiracy theories and wondered if the US was on the brink of war.

"It is significant that the US shut down a major airport," Mick Mulroy, a former US Marine, CIA paramilitary officer and deputy assistant secretary of defense told the BBC.

"If the purpose was for counter drone activity related to cartel drones, it makes sense as the primary means to do so is through electronic warfare (EW)," he added. "EW poses a real risk to civilian aviation. Therefore it was prudent to do so."

Mulroy said the alleged cartel drones were most likely being used for surveillance and "not anything offensive".

Mexico's Ciudad Juarez is just south and west of El Paso, and US Army base Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range lie to the north.

Fort Bliss is a military post focused on training and White Sands Missile Range is the country's largest overland testing range for missiles, rockets and advanced weapons.

In Mexico's interior, cartels have used drones to drop explosives on rivals or security forces, and one cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, has a specialised drone unit.

But along the border, drones are used primarily to help cartels gather intelligence and mostly for human smuggling operations.

"They monitor the position of Border Patrol agents and relay that to migrants to direct them across the border," said Parker Asmann, an expert in Mexican cartels at the Washington-based think tank Insight Crime. "It's about gathering intelligence, surveillance and doing reconnaissance."

In the El Paso area, which Asmann called a "hub" for human trafficking, drones are a "newer" technology performing work that would have previously been done mostly by "spotters" in the hills.

Drone activity in the area, however, is extremely regular, and it remains unclear why the reported incursion on Wednesday prompted a sudden and large-scale airspace closure.

Mayor Renard said its common for unauthorised drones to fly in the area.

"I don't think this is the first time a drone has entered the airspace. And I don't think it's going to be the last time," he said.

"You cannot shut down a major city in the United States for 10 days. That is completely unacceptable.

"For a couple of hours, if they were doing a test, we can completely understand that. But you can't come in and say, 'oh by the way we're gonna be shut down for that many days'," he continued.

"A drone does not rise to the level of 9/11."