The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the CIA under the new Trump administration has expanded secret drone flights over Mexican territory to hunt for fentanyl labs.
US officials told the Times that the drone flights started under the Biden administration but quickly expanded once Trump came into office. Both Trump and CIA Director John Ratcliffe have vowed to take stronger action against Mexican cartels.
Responding to the report on Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the flights were being conducted in coordination with her government.
“These flights are part of the coordination … collaborations that have been going on for many years, between the United States government and the Mexican government,” she said. “Every time it is at Mexico’s request for collaboration, for information to be able to attend to security conditions.”
Also on Wednesday, the Trump administration designated eight Latin American cartels and gangs as “foreign terrorist organizations,” fulfilling an executive order signed by the president on his first day in office. The designation could be a step toward military action, as many Republicans are in favor of launching attacks on Mexican cartels.
The Times report said the CIA drones were not authorized to use force in Mexico and that US officials don’t envision using the drones to conduct airstrikes. Bombing fentanyl labs would cause massive civilian casualties since they are often inside homes in urban areas.
On top of the CIA drone flights over Mexico, the US military has also stepped up its surveillance flights on the border, but the military aircraft have not entered Mexican airspace.
US officials told the Times that the US was sharing the data from its drone flights over Mexico in hopes that Mexican authorities would disable the fentanyl labs. If the labs aren’t destroyed, the Trump administration may take other actions and hasn’t ruled out the idea of special operations raids across the border, which could lead to a full-blown war with cartels that would likely include attacks on US territory.
