As Drone Usage Soars in Latin America, So Do Concerns

MEXICO CITY (McClatchy Washington Bureau/TNS) —
Students and a trainer at Mexico City's Drone Academy practice flying a six-rotor drone. (Tim Johnson/McClatchy DC/TNS)
Students and a trainer at Mexico City’s Drone Academy practice flying a six-rotor drone. (Tim Johnson/McClatchy DC/TNS)
Fernando Lina, center, a trainer at Mexico City's Drone Academy, shows students techniques for using a remote control during a field session. (Tim Johnson/McClatchy DC/TNS)
Fernando Lina, center, a trainer at Mexico City’s Drone Academy, shows students techniques for using a remote control during a field session. (Tim Johnson/McClatchy DC/TNS)

As the chief executive of what may be the first academy to train drone operators in Latin America, Jose Luis Gonzalez is acutely aware that unmanned aerial vehicles can be used for both good and evil.

Most of the students who study at his Drone Academy are photographers seeking to capture sweeping aerial images, engineers using drones to photograph damage to structures like bridges or hobbyists eager to attain new playthings.

But Mexico has its share of bad guys, and Gonzalez said it might not be long before drones are used for malevolent aims, such as remotely controlled murders.

“This is our own brand, Helidroid, and we put this toy gun on it and if you press this button,” Gonzalez said, pausing as a rapid ft-ft-ft noise came out of the airborne drone, the sound of toy gunfire finishing his sentence for him. “Imagine if instead of a plastic gun you had a real gun, or if you put a grenade on it?”

Across Latin America, the sale of drones to civilians is taking off. In most cases, the drones are mini flying devices, suitable only for tiny payloads of a couple of pounds or so, perhaps a small video camera with a gimbal to stabilize the image.

But authorities around the region are scrambling to enact regulations to catch up to the reality of drone usage, seeking to reassure a citizenry that is not altogether calm about the phenomenon.

Signs are already arising that criminals view drones as a new tool in their kit. This summer, two men pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in San Diego to smuggling illegal substances into the United States from Mexico using drones.

Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said smugglers have expanded beyond tunnels, fast watercraft and ultralight airplanes.

“We have found their tunnels, their Cessnas, their jet skis, their pangas, and now we have found their drones,” she said following the guilty pleas of Jonathan Elias, 18, and Brayan Valle, 19, for smuggling across the border at Calexico on April 28.

Drone accidents are spurring calls for regulation. Two Argentine women were walking along a Buenos Aires street Aug. 15 when a drone hit them. Both were hospitalized. The 20-year-old operator said he had been filming a commercial.

“It is time that the responsible parties on the matter jointly develop standards that address and regulate the activity of drones due to their irregular use,” a reader, Ruben Pascual, wrote to the La Nacion newspaper in a letter published Aug. 19.

Drones are banned from archaeological sites in Mexico, but it is not uncommon to see the remotely controlled devices flying in the capital, including around the landmark Angel de la Independencia monument or at crowded concerts.

Drones were a concern as Pope Francis visited South America in July. Ecuador and Paraguay restricted their use, while Bolivian police deployed five drones to provide a constant video feed from the air of the pontiff’s whereabouts to ensure security.

Mexico’s government issued a circular in April with recommendations for drone usage, saying that tiny drones should not fly higher than 400 feet or outside of visual control of the operator and should remain at least 150 feet above crowds.

“It is a suggestion, a recommendation,” said Gonzalez. “If an inspector sees you flying one, he can ask you to stop but it’s not outlawed. There’s nothing that says you can’t do it.”

Gonzalez said he foresees a lot of positive uses for drones. “Imagine if you could take a defibrillator to someone having a heart attack,” he said.

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