Unauthorized drones banned along US-Mexico border: FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday it is restricting unauthorized drones along the ​U.S.-Mexico border.

This move comes as the government ramps up efforts to address concerns about illegal drug shipment across the border, Reuters reported Friday .

It is a temporary flight restriction that bars any unauthorized drone activity up to 400 feet above ground and extends 1 nautical mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the report said.

In February, the FAA temporarily closed the airspace over El Paso, Texas, and southern New Mexico as a result of the Pentagon’s plan to test antidrone technology . The order was lifted hours later.

Later in August, the U.S. military used a high-energy laser to shoot down three drones near the southern border that officials said were linked to Mexican drug cartels . This operation involved the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser system to bring down the drones along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Customs and Boder Protection sources said the following month that the number of suspected cartel-linked drones in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border has dropped by 75 percent since the military started using the high-energy lasers.

Officials, however, acknowledged that the drop in the number could be due to the cartel changing routes or using other tactics to achieve the goal of surveilling U.S. activity.

The FAA’s drone sighting report says the administration receives more than 100 reports of sightings each month from law enforcement, pilots and citizens. Between July and September, more than 500 sightings were reported, according to FAA data .