Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has confirmed it is flying Predator drones above the Los Angeles protests, and specifically in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a CBP statement sent to 404 Media. The statement follows 404 Media’s reporting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has flown two Predator drones above Los Angeles, according to flight data and air traffic control (ATC) audio.
The statement is the first time CBP has acknowledged the existence of these drone flights, which over the weekend were done without a callsign, making it more difficult, but not impossible, to determine what model of aircraft was used and by which agency. It is also the first time CBP has said it is using the drones to help ICE during the protests.
“Air and Marine Operations’ [AMO] MQ-9 Predators are supporting our federal law enforcement partners in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with aerial support of their operations,” the statement from CBP to 404 Media says. The statement added that “they are providing officer safety surveillance when requested by officers. AMO is not engaged in the surveillance of first amendment activities.” According to flight data reviewed by 404 Media, the drones flew repeatedly above Paramount, where the weekend’s anti-ICE protests started, and downtown Los Angeles, where much of the protest activity moved to.
CBP’s AMO has a fleet of at least 10 MQ-9 drones, according to a CBP presentation available online. Five of these are the Predator B, used for land missions, according to the presentation. These sorts of drones are often equipped with high-powered surveillance equipment, but the statement did not specify what surveillance technology was used during the Los Angeles flights.
The Los Angeles protests started after ICE raided a Home Depot on Friday. Tensions escalated when President Trump called up 4,000 members of the National Guard, and on Monday ordered more than 700 active duty Marines to deploy to the city too.
Over the weekend 404 Media reviewed flight data published by ADS-B Exchange, a site where a volunteer community of feeders provide real-time information on the location of flights, to monitor which aircraft were flying over the protests. That included DHS Black Hawk helicopters, small aircraft from the California Highway Patrol, and aircraft flying at a higher altitude with the data displaying a distinctive hexagonal flight pattern. This strongly resembled that of a Predator drone, and CBP previously flew such a drone above George Floyd protests in Minneapolis in 2020.
An aviation tracking enthusiast then unearthed ATC audio and found these aircraft were using TROY callsigns; TROY is a callsign used by the DHS. The enthusiast, who goes by the handle Aeroscout, then found more audio that described the aircraft as “Q-9,” which is sometimes used as shorthand for the MQ-9. 404 Media verified that audio at the time.
CBP has repeatedly flown its Predator drones on behalf of or at the request of other law enforcement agencies, including local and state agencies.