The United States’ campaign against Mexican drug cartels has entered a more controversial phase following reports that the operatives from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directly participated in lethal operations against cartel figures inside Mexico, underscoring Washington’s rapidly expanding security posture against trafficking organizations blamed for fueling the U.S. fentanyl crisis.
The allegations, first reported by CNN, suggest that the CIA’s elite Ground Branch unit was involved in covert missions targeting cartel operatives, including operations linked to assassinations and intelligence-supported strikes, marking a significant escalation in the U.S. war on drug cartels.
Per the CNN’s report, the operations were conducted as part of an expanded counter-cartel campaign launched after U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office and intensified pressure on Mexico to crack down on narcotics trafficking organizations blamed for fueling the fentanyl crisis in the United States.
The report said some of the operations involved surveillance support, intelligence coordination, and assistance during missions carried out by Mexican security forces.
These operations are said to have targeted several mostly mid-level cartel figures. For instance, one incident cited in CNN’s report allegedly involved a March car bombing outside Mexico City that killed a mid-level Sinaloa Cartel operative, Francisco Beltran, also known as ‘El Payin ’.
Both Mexican authorities and the CIA have denied CNN’s reporting.
“The Mexican government categorically rejects any versions (of events) that seek to normalize, justify or suggest the existence of lethal, covert or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on Mexican soil,” Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a post on X.
Likewise, the CIA, also through a post on X from spokesperson Liz Lyons, said: “This (CNN story) is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk.”
“Imagine how big the lie is if the CIA itself needs to come out and dismiss” the story, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reportedly said of CNN’s story in an interaction with the reporters.
Despite the denials, the report has cast renewed focus on the growing extent of U.S. involvement in anti-cartel operations in Mexico, further complicating bilateral relations already strained by disagreements over security policy, cartel violence, trade negotiations, migration, and Washington’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward organized crime groups operating south of the border.
Questions surrounding the extent of U.S. operational involvement in Mexico have historically generated political sensitivity due to sovereignty concerns, and the issue has become even more controversial under Trump’s second administration, which has adopted a significantly more confrontational approach toward Mexican cartels.
President Trump has repeatedly described major cartels as terrorist organizations and has argued that the United States should reserve the right to take unilateral military action if Mexico fails to neutralize the trafficking groups responsible for fentanyl smuggling and cross-border violence.
“We have to eradicate them,” Mr. Trump said of Mexico’s cartels in March. “We have to knock the hell out of them because they’re getting worse. They’re taking over their country. The cartels are running Mexico. We can’t have that. Too close to us, too close to you.”
Several cartels were formally designated as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year, a move that expanded the legal authorities available to U.S. agencies involved in counter-cartel operations.
The designation raised alarm among Mexican officials and experts, many of whom warned that it could provide justification for greater direct American intervention in Mexican territory.
Concerns over sovereignty have become a defining political issue for President Sheinbaum’s administration.
Although the Mexican government has continued cooperating with U.S. intelligence agencies, extraditing cartel suspects and coordinating anti-narcotics missions, Ms. Sheinbaum has consistently emphasized that any foreign involvement must remain subordinate to Mexican authority.
The CNN report alleging direct participation of CIA operatives in fatal attacks on cartel targets in Mexico comes only weeks after a separate controversy involving the deaths of two Americans widely reported to be CIA officers.
In April, four officials, including two Americans, died in a vehicle crash in Chihuahua state following an operation targeting cartel-linked drug laboratories in mountainous territory near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mexican authorities initially described the incident as an accident, but the deaths prompted widespread speculation about the expanding role of American intelligence personnel inside Mexico.
The episode drew renewed public attention to the increasingly integrated nature of U.S.-Mexican security cooperation.
Also, in February, Reuters reported that a newly created U.S. military-led initiative known as the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel had supported Mexican authorities with intelligence during operations targeting senior cartel leaders.
The group reportedly played a role in assisting Mexican security forces during the February operation in Jalisco state that resulted in the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The killing of El Mencho marked one of the most significant blows against organized crime groups in Mexico in years, however, it also triggered widespread unrest across several states, including road blockades, arson attacks, armed clashes, and retaliatory violence carried out by cartel gunmen.
Dozens of Mexican security personnel and cartel members were reported killed during the ensuing violence.
At the same time, accusations from the U.S. of corruption involving Mexican officials and organized crime groups have further complicated relations between the two countries.
U.S. prosecutors recently unveiled indictments against several current and former Mexican officials, including Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya, on allegations tied to drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
The charges shocked Mexico’s political establishment and added new strain to bilateral ties.
Sheinbaum has rejected accusations that her administration protects cartel-linked officials, while also criticizing what Mexican officials view as increasingly unilateral American actions.
Tanmay Kadam is a geopolitical observer based in India. He has experience working as a Defense and International Affairs journalist for EurAsian Times. He can be contacted at tanmaykadam700@gmail.com.