US military surveillance blimp on loan to CBP is lost at the southern border, wreckage found in Mexico
(CNN) — A US military-owned surveillance blimp operated by Customs and Border Protection contractors near Laredo, Texas, broke free from its tether on Monday evening and later crashed in Mexico.
The blimp did not carry a crew when in the air, and no ground personnel were injured in the incident.
The 66-foot surveillance blimp’s tether cable, which secures the balloon to the ground, became tangled with other cables amid storms on Monday, a spokesperson for Joint Task Force-Southern Border, confirmed in a statement to CNN.
That evening, a nearby airport experienced heavy thunderstorms that brought wind gusts as high as 44 miles per hour, according to National Weather Service data.
The aircraft’s operators tried to untangle the cables, the spokesperson said, but the helium-filled blimp “became untethered” and floated away. The military declined to say which specific model of balloon was lost, only describing the aircraft as a “medium aerostat.”
CBP operates surveillance blimps across the region. Some are equipped with high-powered cameras, and others carry radar systems that detect drones and other aircraft operated by smugglers.
The runaway balloon’s location was unknown until Mexico’s military discovered it “in a remote location … southwest of Laredo,” according to the spokesperson. Mexican and US troops are coordinating to recover the aerostat.
A CBP spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.
Border Patrol began using small “tactical” blimps for surveillance in 2012, but the program has periodically run out of funding. Many of the aircraft belong to the Department of Defense, which spent more than $5 billion to develop and purchase more than 140 surveillance blimps during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to a Government Accountability Office report published in 2012.
CBP lost an even larger surveillance blimp in March 2025, when a 200-foot aerostat operating on South Padre Island, Texas, broke free from its tether and floated nearly 600 miles before careening into power lines near Dallas.
CPB, which oversees Border Patrol, plays a crucial role in President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure the US-Mexico border and restrict illegal immigration.
Trump’s emphasis on hardening the border has brought CBP a litany of military manpower and equipment as well, sometimes with unintended consequences.
In February, CBP’s use of a high-energy anti-drone laser system furnished by the Pentagon to shoot down balloons led the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly shut down civilian airspace over El Paso, Texas.
Davis Winkie’s work at CNN is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). CNN retains full editorial control of the reporting.
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