Rancho La Yegua Airport

The airport was closed following its seizure by the Mexican military (SEDENA - Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional). It was identified as a key logistical asset for the Juárez Cartel, used for illicit activities, primarily the trafficking of narcotics, weapons, and money. The closure was a direct result of law enforcement and military action to dismantle cartel infrastructure.

The site is abandoned and under the control of the Mexican federal government, likely administered by the military or the SAE (Servicio de Administración y Enajenación de Bienes), the agency responsible for managing seized assets. Satellite imagery confirms the runway is unmaintained, with visible vegetation growth and erosion. The surrounding ranch facilities are also in a state of decay. The airport is completely non-operational and inaccessible to the public.

Rancho La Yegua Airport was not a public or commercial facility. It was a private airstrip built to serve the large ranch on which it was located. In its active phase, especially in the 2000s, its primary significance was strategic. It served as a clandestine 'narco-airstrip' ('narcopista'). Its remote location in the Chihuahuan Desert, yet relatively close to the US-Mexico border, made it an ideal transit point for aircraft carrying cocaine from South America. From here, drugs would be offloaded and moved to the border via ground transport. The airstrip was a critical node in the Juárez Cartel's smuggling operations, representing the type of sophisticated infrastructure used by organized crime groups to control territory and conduct their business.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Rancho La Yegua Airport. Given its history as a cartel asset and its seizure by the government, it is highly unlikely to be returned to private hands or developed for public use. The Mexican government's priority for such seized assets is to prevent them from falling back into the hands of criminal organizations, not to repurpose them for civilian aviation, especially in a remote area with no clear economic demand for an airport.