Officials: Surveillance cameras at Arizona/Mexico border belonged to drug cartels

They were seized off of "electric power poles, public lighting, telephones and even in palm trees" – 24 surveillance cameras that Mexican authorities say were placed by local drug cartels around the city of San Luis Rio Colorado.

The cameras were meant to let the cartels keep an eye on the city's border with Yuma, Arizona, as they attempted to smuggle drugs into the U.S.

Drug cartel scouts – dubbed "falcons" by the cartels – put the cameras there, according to the Sonora State Prosecutor's Office, and were used to watch for police and soldiers.

In the past, Americans have often crossed over from Yuma into San Luis Rio Colorado to take advantage of lower prices on things like dental services and prescription drugs. But cartel violence has been on the rise in the Mexican town as of late.

Seen in photos posted to social media, the devices were common porch-style cameras secured in place with duct tape.

The cameras drew their power from electric lines above the street and tapped into the internet through phone lines on the same poles.

They were removed by soldiers, whose base in the area was one of the areas being heavily surveilled.