The CIA is conducting beforehand unreported surveillance flights utilizing MQ-9 Reaper drones over Mexico as a part of counter-narcotics operations, in response to present and former officers acquainted with this system. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed these flights are occurring with Mexico’s collaboration and at their authorities’s request, experiences CNN.
Operational Particulars
The drone operations deal with finding fentanyl labs in northwestern Mexico, coming amid elevated strain from the Trump administration on Mexico to fight drug trafficking. Whereas the MQ-9 Reaper drones deployed for these missions are presently unarmed, they’ve the potential to be outfitted with payloads for precision strikes – a functionality usually utilized in Syria, Iraq, and Somalia, although there’s no indication of plans to take action in Mexico.
The timing of those operations coincides with a number of vital coverage developments. Earlier this month, President Trump threatened, then postponed, 25% tariffs on Mexican imports meant to push Mexico to take stronger motion in opposition to drug cartels. Mexico responded by deploying 10,000 Nationwide Guard troops to its northern border.
Program Evolution
Sources point out the CIA has beforehand operated surveillance drones in Mexico below at the least one small program partnering with Mexican authorities. Nonetheless, the present flights characterize a definite escalation, evidenced by their communication to Congress utilizing notification procedures reserved for brand new or up to date covert applications meant to be hid or denied.
Mexican officers have supplied various statements about U.S. surveillance actions. Protection Secretary Ricardo Trevilla initially addressed U.S. navy aircraft flights final week, stating they’d not entered Mexican airspace whereas acknowledging he couldn’t rule out espionage actions. President Sheinbaum later supplied extra element, characterizing the flights as a part of long-standing coordination between the 2 governments, emphasizing that data gathered is shared with Mexican authorities.
Coverage Context
These drone operations align with the Trump administration’s broader initiative to shift counter-terrorism sources towards cartel-related actions. A 30-page Trump transition planning doc titled “2025 Company Motion Plan” particularly directed treating counter-drug cartel work as a type of counter-terrorism, together with the reallocation of sources from different areas if mandatory.
The State Division has drafted an inventory of cartels for potential designation as international terrorist organizations, together with transnational gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, in addition to a number of Mexican cartels such because the Sinaloa, Jalisco, Zetas, Gulf cartels, Cartel Unidos, and La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM).
This growth marks a major shift in how counter-narcotics operations are being performed alongside the U.S.-Mexico border, although its long-term implications stay to be seen. The CIA has declined to remark particularly in regards to the drone missions, although a spokesperson famous that “countering drug cartels in Mexico and regionally is a precedence for CIA as part of the Trump Administration’s broader efforts to finish the grave risk from narco-trafficking.”
Photographs courtesy of Wikipedia.
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