Surveillance Cameras Are Detected on Border Palm Trees; Officials Believe they Belong to Cartels

Authorities are constantly investing in new, cutting-edge technology to reduce the amount of unlawful crossings through the southern border, with devices ranging from drones to blimps.

However, for every technical advancement pulled off by authorities, there's bound to be a way in which smugglers and cartels tries to evade them. Case in point: last week authorities in the Rio Grande Valley reported that human smugglers are now using drones to help monitor areas through which they can transports immigrants into the U.S.

On Monday, another tactic was revealed as Mexican authorities seized 24 surveillance cameras installed by drug cartels in the border city of San Luis Rio Colorado, according to CBS News. The cameras, which were fixed to telephone poles, light posts, and palm trees, were allegedly placed by cartel operatives, commonly known as "falcons," to monitor the movements of police and military personnel as they look to smuggle drugs into the U.S.

Army troops removed the cameras, which prosecutors described as common porch-style devices wrapped in duct tape. The cameras were found in three different neighborhoods, mounted on utility poles, public lighting, and palm trees.

The discovery is not the first instance of cartels establishing their own surveillance networks in or near border cities. In 2015, authorities in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, uncovered a similar cartel surveillance operation involving at least 39 cameras monitoring military and law enforcement activity.

These cameras were powered by electric lines and connected to the internet through phone cables, allowing them to function wirelessly or through commercial providers.