Foreign volunteers who fought for Ukraine being courted by Latin American drug cartels

Drug cartels are reportedly trying to recruit men with combat experience in Ukraine – and those they want the most are skilled drone pilots.

Thousands of Latin Americans have volunteered for Ukraine's International Legion – the majority are from Colombia, but many Brazilians and Mexicans have also gone to fight.

Applicants are screened by the Ukrainian security services, but some alleged criminals have slipped through.

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One of them is Philippe Marques Pinto, a member of Red Command, a notorious Brazilian drug trafficking and organised crime gang.

A video surfaced recently supposedly showing cartel members training with drones, using water bottles to simulate dropping munitions.

In one year, the US Department of Homeland Security detected 27,000 drones on the US-Mexico border.

Of course, not all Colombians and Mexicans entering Ukraine belong to organised crime groups.

But for the cartels, the skills these Latin American mercenaries can acquire make them prize recruits.

This is proof that the lessons from Ukraine are spreading not just to sovereign nations and allies, but to nefarious non-state actors too.