By Sean Lyngaas

(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said it would invest $115 million in counter-drone technologies to secure the World Cup and events marking 250 years of American independence.

The money will be overseen by a new DHS office focused on quickly buying and deploying drone and counter-drone technologies.

It’s a big bet on high-tech tools for a department under pressure to secure those high-profile events but also aiming to meet President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown demands. The news also comes as a response to the increasing technological sophistication of drug cartels, which have used their own drones and cyberattacks to help ship narcotics and surveil US officials.

“Drones represent the new frontier of American air superiority,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

The announcement comes as drug cartels are increasing their technological sophistication, having used their own drones and cyberattacks to help ship narcotics and surveil US officials.

Cheap and available online, drones have been a major security concern for public safety officials for years. A Baltimore man pleaded guilty last year after flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium in the city during the 2025 NFL playoff game between the Ravens and Steelers. Separately, a series of drone sightings in New Jersey in 2024 raised public alarm and prompted calls from lawmakers for the executive branch to get a grip on the problem.

The US co-hosting one of the biggest sporting events on the planet, the FIFA World Cup, this summer has intensified pressure on federal officials to do more to prevent drones from disrupting proceedings. Eleven US cities will host matches. Over a million international visitors are projected to come to the US for the tournament.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, a part of DHS, last month gave $250 million to 11 states hosting World Cup matches to buy counter-drone technology.

The drug cartels that the Trump administration have declared terrorist groups have embraced drones for smuggling and surveillance. The possibility of equipping drones with lethal weaponry also has experts concerned.

In the fight against the cartels, surveillance failures can cost lives.

A Mexican drug cartel hired a hacker to surveil the movements of a senior FBI official in Mexico City in 2018 or earlier, gathering information from the city’s camera system that allowed the cartel to kill potential FBI informants, the Justice Department inspector general said in a report last year.

The-CNN-Wire
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