A newly-minted law allowing Arizona law enforcement officers to shoot down drug-carrying drones along the U.S.-Mexico border has taken effect after sailing through the state’s legislature with bipartisan support. 

HB 2733 was signed into law on April 18 and grants officers the ability to target drones suspected of carrying out illegal activity within 15 miles of the state’s international border. 

“Cartels are increasingly using drones to survey the border to locate [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] officers’ locations and to transport illegal drugs from Mexico into our state,” state Rep. David Marshall, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Law enforcement tools at [our] disposal will be electronic jamming devices, as well as using shotguns with bird shot to bring down these drones.”

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Between October 2024 and April 2025, approximately 113,000 pounds of illegal drugs have been seized along the U.S.-Mexico border, with methamphetamine accounting for the majority of findings, according to data from CBP. 

Prior to the bill being passed, officers were unable to intercept drones suspected of participating in illegal activities, including transporting drugs such as fentanyl, across the southern border. 

The law also protects officers from being held civilly liable for any damage caused by intercepting the drone. 

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A Blackhawk crew flies along the fence at the southern U.S. border with Mexico, in Douglas, Arizona, on April 3, 2025. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)

“A public entity or public employee is not liable to an unmanned aircraft operator for any injury to personal property caused by a peace officer intercepting, capturing, disabling, shooting, destroying or otherwise rendering inoperative an unmanned aircraft within 15 miles of the state’s international border if the peace officer had a reasonable suspicion that the unmanned aircraft was being used to commit a violation of Title 13, Chapter 23, 34 or 34.1,” the bill states. 

“Giving law enforcement the tools that they need to protect Arizonans is and should be a bipartisan effort,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said at a news conference. “It is a necessary step in the fight against international drug trafficking and critical to our effort to protect all Arizonians.” 

Mayes’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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Concertina wire is attached along the fence at the southern U.S. border with Mexico, in Douglas, Arizona, on April 3, 2025. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)

However, the law is in direct conflict with the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulations surrounding drones. Federal law prohibits interfering with a drone while it is in the air, with violators risking criminal and civil penalties. 

“Federal law generally prohibits the damage, destruction or disabling of an aircraft,” the FAA said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “In addition, anyone shooting at any aircraft – including unmanned aircraft – creates a significant safety hazard. Discharging a weapon at an unmanned aircraft could cause damage to persons or property on the ground or could cause the aircraft to collide with other objects in the air.” 

CBP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

“It goes without saying that these cartel actions directly threaten the livelihood of Arizonans,” Marshall said. “In 2024 alone, Arizona saw 1,479 opioid-related overdose deaths. That is 1,479 lives taken too soon and countless families changed forever because of these deadly drugs. But when we give law enforcement the tools they need, like House Bill 2733, they are able to capture these drugs before they cause irreparable harm to our communities.”

EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and removal officers in Houston arrested 422 suspected illegal immigrants and deported 528 from the U.S. during a weeklong operation.

During the operation, ICE officers targeted some of the most dangerous criminals, including an illegal migrant wanted in Colombia on murder charges.

Fox News exclusively embedded with officers for 10 hours as ICE officers arrested an illegal alien they say is wanted for murder in Colombia, at his apartment complex.

“He has a homicide conviction in Colombia and was sentenced to 21 years there,” ICE Houston Director Bret Bradford said. “He entered the United States illegally in February of 2024 was given a court date for an immigration hearing and released. He did not show up for that court date, so in March of this year, he was ordered removed by an immigration judge here in the United States.

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“The biggest thing for me is public safety,” Bradford said.

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Of the 422 arrests, 262 have criminal convictions, 34 have pending convictions, 126 have other immigration violations, and 229 had final orders of removal, according to ICE.

Another illegal alien removed during the operation was a 72-year-old migrant from Mexico who was ordered removed from the U.S. in 2018, and has been convicted of homicide, robbery, shoplifting and assault.

Two ICE officials seen detaining a man outside during a weeklong operation that led to hundreds of arrests in Houston. (Fox News)

During the operation, a 40-year-old twice-deported criminal alien from Mexico was seen trying flee in his vehicle and then on foot before he eventually was captured. According to ICE, Hector Castillo-Garcia was convicted of several charges while in the U.S. illegally, including arson, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated.

The Houston ICE Field Office has an operation center with analysts dedicated to developing these targets.

“They are doing the database research to get the worst of the worst, the ones who have the most significant threat to public safety,” Bradford said. “And then we want to look at the information we have on that individual, make sure it’s a viable target, make sure we have good addresses, go out and do surveillance so we can see if we can a pattern of the subjects’ movements and behavior. So, we want to kind of combine the worst of the worst plus the ones we have the most likelihood of encountering and arresting, trying to merge those two things together to come up with the top targets.”

ICE is also ramping up its efforts to remove illegal migrants by swiftly transferring those with final removal orders to designated hubs, where they are deported immediately to their home countries.

This “hub and spoke” system, which speeds up the removal process, has just started recently, according to the ICE field director.

ICE officials conduct an operation at an apartment unit in Houston. (Fox News)

“We can arrest the individual this morning, process him this afternoon, and have him on a removal flight this evening, same day, saving taxpayer cost and just making it more efficient and expedited process to get these folks out of the country,” said Bradford. 

Fox News got exclusive footage of 80 detainees in Houston boarding one of the flights bound for the El Paso, Texas, hub.

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Total # of Aliens Arrested by ICE Houston During Operation: 422

Breakdown of Arrests:

Criminal Convictions: 262

Pending convictions: 34

Other Immigration Violations: 126

Final Orders of Removal: 229

Breakdown of Criminal Convictions:

Aggravated Assault: 24

Assault: 35

Burglary: 6

Driving While Intoxicated: 48

Narcotics-related Offenses: 37

Forgery/Fraud: 10

Obstruction/Resisting Arrest: 21

Murder: 1

Robbery: 6

Sexual Assault (adult): 6

Sexual Assault-Child/Minor: 5

Smuggling Aliens: 10

Terroristic Threat: 5

Vehicle Theft: 6

Weapons Offense: 9

Gang Members/Affiliates Arrested: 5

The teenager suspected of killing high school track star Austin Metcalf will be allowed to graduate from his Frisco, Texas, high school despite being charged with first-degree murder, according to a report. 

Karmelo Anthony will graduate from Centennial High School, part of the Frisco Independent School District, according to WFAA. Students from that high school are set to graduate on May 22. 

Anthony will not be part of the graduation ceremony, according to the report. 

“We are proud to share that Karmelo Anthony will graduate and receive his high school diploma, and that his academic achievements will not be disrupted,” Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) President Dominique Alexander, a spokesman for Anthony’s family, reportedly said. 

“NGAN has worked diligently alongside the Anthony family’s legal team to bring about this fair and student-focused resolution,” he said. “This is a moment of dignity for Karmelo and a reminder of the power of advocacy done right.”

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Frisco ISD Superintendent Mike Waldrip addressed what he said were false rumors that Anthony would be able to attend the graduation ceremony. 

“Frisco ISD has learned that misinformation is being shared regarding Centennial High School’s graduation via several media outlets and perpetuated through social media,” he told WFAA. “It is disheartening that the incredible accomplishments and achievements of our Centennial seniors may be dampened by needless fearmongering, attention-seeking and media vitriol. Our students, staff and community deserve better.

“I want to be clear. No student who commits a serious criminal offense (Title V felony) is permitted to participate in the graduation ceremony. Additionally, anyone who trespasses on Frisco ISD property or at a District event will be subject to immediate removal and possible arrest by law enforcement,” he said, adding that the school district does not condone violence. 

File photo of Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, who was stabbed in the chest, allegedly by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Frisco Centennial High School. (Courtesy Jeff Metcalf)

“We work to ensure every student is safe to learn and feels part of our culture of respect, honor and integrity,” he said. 

“Let’s come together as a community to honor and support our students and staff. This moment is about their success, and they deserve our full attention and encouragement. Congratulations to the Centennial Class of 2025!”

Anthony, now 18, is accused of stabbing and killing Metcalf over a dispute regarding Anthony’s presence in the Memorial High School tent at the April 2 track meet. 

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He and his supporters claim that he acted in self-defense, and that Metcalf pushed him out of the tent. 

That claim is tenuous, according to Julie Rendelman, a former homicide prosecutor from New York who now runs a private criminal defense firm.

File photo of Jeff Metcalf with his son, Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, who was stabbed in the chest allegedly by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student-athlete from Frisco Centennial High School. (Courtesy Jeff Metcalf)

“If the evidence is what it is right now, I think he’s going to have an uphill battle claiming self-defense,” she previously told Fox News Digital. “If the scenario is… that the victim told [Anthony] to leave, and then in some way physically touched him without more, then I’m not comfortable – I don’t believe that a self-defense claim will work.”

Meanwhile, Alexander has compared Anthony to figures like Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny, who have won self-defense cases in criminal court. 

“Nobody in the public media has one video, but we got the video of Kyle Rittenhouse with an AK-47 shooting three people in the back,” he said in a chaotic April 17 news conference before which Jeff Metcalf, Austin’s father, was escorted off the property. “We got that, and he raised more than $2 million publicly, and nobody said anything about that.”

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He also called Anthony’s detractors bigots, in what has become a racially charged public discussion. 

Dominique Alexander of the Next Generation Action Network hosted a news conference on behalf of Karmelo Anthony’s family on April 17. (Next Generation Action Network via Facebook)

“Because these racist bigots try to prevent us from standing up for our baby, our boy, he should be afforded the same rights that Kyle Rittenhouse had, Daniel Penny and all the people who have claimed whatever their defense was. He should be afforded the same right,” Alexander said.

“What [Jeff Metcalf] has felled [sic] into is the political operatives that want to make this thing a political thing of hate and yet bigotry and yet racism,” he said of Austin’s father. “We have conservative operatives that have been posting nonstop about this case.” 

NGAN and Frisco ISD declined to comment.

Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, did not return a comment request. 

Jeff Metcalf did not return a comment request.