4 ms·

Their carry weight is absolute shit and ferrying over 10 doses isn't really worthwhile

krisoft 5y ago
There is this confusion over the word “drone”. What you say is absolutely true about quadrocopters and octocopters. It is much less true about fixed wing drones. You don’t have to go all the way to a Global Hawk to get reasonable carrying capacity. Even hobby sized stuff could be used for this reasonably well. Parts are easy to acquire, they are easy to conceal, you can launch them with a catapult like setup, they can drop off their load and fly back autonomously. I bet that it is already happening or at least there are smugglers experimenting with the tech.
- squarefoot 5y ago
  > you can launch them with a catapult like setup, they can drop off their load and fly back autonomously. This had me thinking about homemade disposable rockets. Either use them for cargo, or attach one to a strong enough glider, so that it can reach the desired area, release the glider (that can use maps + GPS and sensors to land safely) then proceed for a while fooling whoever would follow its heat trail. Not that I wanted to become a drug smuggler, just brainstorming. We will need all that stuff when the next reptilian invasion occurs:^)
- EmpirePhoenix 5y ago
  If your target country has a large coast, there are submarine drones already https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-submarine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-submarine
- joshxyz 5y ago
  iirc theres a fixed wing drone ccaught by lea at mexico(?) right?
- satori99 5y ago
  The Spanish police found a drone that had made trips from North Africa just a few months back. It was a hybrid fixed wing drone that could carry 150Kg. https://www.vice.com/en/article/dyvwmv/look-at-this-huge-drug-drone-seized-by-cops-in-spain https://www.vice.com/en/article/dyvwmv/look-at-this-huge-dru...
White_Wolf 5y ago
Check out pro broadcasting drones. They can carry 3-5kg cameras with power packs. Some go as far as 1h fly time. They are expensive as hell though.
- rualca 5y ago
  I'm sure the premium charged by broadcasting drone sellers has more to do with stabilizing drones even during manoeuvering than it has to do with maximizing payload and range. Drones used in broadcasting can do pit stops pretty much at will.
- tinco 5y ago
  My company owns one, the same make as the one that shot the dragon battle scene in game of thrones. It's a single rotor, and you're right on with the specs. It's not super expensive though, about as expensive as a high end luxury car. Definitely out of range of most consumers, but not crazy for a small business to have. You also need a small team to operate it, and because of its weight there's more aviation regulation applicable, at least here in Europe.
SevenSigs 5y ago
That's why they like Fentanyl, Carfentanyl, etc... a lethal dose weight almost nothing.
willis936 5y ago
Unless you have a thousand drones. If any one drone gets taken out then you just lost a negligible quantity of product. If a traditional mule is caught you lose millions. A single bust would pay for a fleet of drones.
lostlogin 5y ago
> Their carry weight is absolute shit In the case of the mule, the carry weight is relative to shit.
touristtam 5y ago
it has to be doable with cartel money; there is at least one startup doing drone delivery in Africa: https://flyzipline.com/ https://flyzipline.com/

There is this confusion over the word “drone”. What you say is absolutely true about quadrocopters and octocopters. It is much less true about fixed wing drones. You don’t have to go all the way to a Global Hawk to get reasonable carrying capacity. Even hobby sized stuff could be used for this reasonably well. Parts are easy to acquire, they are easy to conceal, you can launch them with a catapult like setup, they can drop off their load and fly back autonomously. I bet that it is already happening or at least there are smugglers experimenting with the tech.

squarefoot 5y ago
> you can launch them with a catapult like setup, they can drop off their load and fly back autonomously. This had me thinking about homemade disposable rockets. Either use them for cargo, or attach one to a strong enough glider, so that it can reach the desired area, release the glider (that can use maps + GPS and sensors to land safely) then proceed for a while fooling whoever would follow its heat trail. Not that I wanted to become a drug smuggler, just brainstorming. We will need all that stuff when the next reptilian invasion occurs:^)
EmpirePhoenix 5y ago
If your target country has a large coast, there are submarine drones already https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-submarine https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco-submarine
joshxyz 5y ago
iirc theres a fixed wing drone ccaught by lea at mexico(?) right?
satori99 5y ago
The Spanish police found a drone that had made trips from North Africa just a few months back. It was a hybrid fixed wing drone that could carry 150Kg. https://www.vice.com/en/article/dyvwmv/look-at-this-huge-drug-drone-seized-by-cops-in-spain https://www.vice.com/en/article/dyvwmv/look-at-this-huge-dru...

White_Wolf 5y ago

Check out pro broadcasting drones. They can carry 3-5kg cameras with power packs. Some go as far as 1h fly time. They are expensive as hell though.

rualca 5y ago
I'm sure the premium charged by broadcasting drone sellers has more to do with stabilizing drones even during manoeuvering than it has to do with maximizing payload and range. Drones used in broadcasting can do pit stops pretty much at will.
tinco 5y ago
My company owns one, the same make as the one that shot the dragon battle scene in game of thrones. It's a single rotor, and you're right on with the specs. It's not super expensive though, about as expensive as a high end luxury car. Definitely out of range of most consumers, but not crazy for a small business to have. You also need a small team to operate it, and because of its weight there's more aviation regulation applicable, at least here in Europe.

SevenSigs 5y ago

That's why they like Fentanyl, Carfentanyl, etc... a lethal dose weight almost nothing.

willis936 5y ago

Unless you have a thousand drones. If any one drone gets taken out then you just lost a negligible quantity of product. If a traditional mule is caught you lose millions. A single bust would pay for a fleet of drones.

lostlogin 5y ago

> Their carry weight is absolute shit In the case of the mule, the carry weight is relative to shit.

touristtam 5y ago

it has to be doable with cartel money; there is at least one startup doing drone delivery in Africa: https://flyzipline.com/ https://flyzipline.com/