CNN
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The CIA under President Donald Trump is secretly flying through Mexico to spy on drug cartels through Mexico. Current and former officials familiar with the issue told CNN, part of a dramatic reorientation of national security assets to the borders of the Southern United States.
A previously unreported mission comes as the Trump administration moves to treat cross-border drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The MQ-9 drone used for the mission is currently unarmed. However, they can be equipped with payloads to carry out precision strikes. The US regularly uses them to target suspected terrorists in Syria, Iraq and Somali.
Some current and former officials say that designating cartels as terrorist groups could potentially lay the foundation for our strike against Mexican cartels and their drug labs. .
The CIA previously flew surveillance drones to hunt cartels in Mexico under at least one small program that partnered with Mexican authorities, according to previous and current US officials.
However, recent flights have been communicated to Congress by the Trump administration using certain notifications reserved for new or updated secret programs that the CIA hides or denys, and are familiar with the issue. Sources suggest that flights represent a clear escalation. . The notification does not mention Mexican partners, the source said.
The CIA declined to comment specifically on the drone mission. However, a spokesperson said, “Countering against drug cartels in Mexico and in the region is a priority for the CIA as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to end serious threats from drug trafficking. “I said widely. Director (John) Ratcliffe is determined to place the unique expertise of the CIA to oppose this multifaceted challenge.”
The revelation that the CIA is a flying drone mission through Mexico comes amid growing tensions between the US and the Mexican government.
The Mexican government has already kept a question about why American spy planes have been working on missions near the border in recent weeks.
In response to CNN’s report on the dramatic increase in military spy planes flying near Mexico, Mexican President Claudia Sinbaum and other Mexican officials have stressed the importance of sovereignty and are engaging in those It emphasizes that spy plane flights occur in international airspace and in US territory. .
Defense Minister Ricardo Trevira said he had not previously been aware of the flights of those spy planes.
“We can’t eliminate spies because we don’t know exactly what happened,” Trevira said last week. “But they did not violate national space.”
However, the CIA’s MQ-9 mission is currently flying within Mexico’s airspace. The Mexican government did not respond to requests for comment.
Responding to a question Friday regarding the rise in US turbulence in international airspace, Sinbaum said: . ”
Under the long-standing bilateral agreement, the Drug Enforcement Agency and several other law enforcement agencies have been working with the Mexican government to fly aircraft in Mexico’s airspace on a daily basis.
The CIA does not publicly acknowledge the existence of drone programs, but it says Reaper drones can be heard from the ground.
CIA drone flights, coupled with the expected cartel designation, highlight how the Trump administration is working to shift broader terrorist authorities and resources to countercartel work along the US-Mexico border and Mexico itself. It’s there.
Even before Trump took office, plans for that shift began. The 30-page Trump Transition Plan document, entitled “2025 Agency Action Plan,” reviewed by CNN, outlines the Trump administration’s early priorities for the intelligence community to “reprogram resources (anti-terrorism) resources.” I did.
“We will treat counter-drug cartel works as a form of anti-terrorism and use those authorities and their own resources appropriately, including moving resources from other regions where necessary,” he directed.
Trump had previously been publicly silent about using military force against the cartel, including his first term as president.
In 2019, Trump said the US was ready for a “wage war” against the group, saying, “The cartels can become very big and powerful and sometimes require the troops to take down the troops.” I tweeted. And while some people signed an executive order on January 20th, Trump asked reporters if he would send special operations forces to Mexico. It was done.
“It could happen,” Trump said. “A strange thing happened.”
Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz had previously advocated aggressive actions against Mexican drug cartels. As a member of Congress, in 2023 he co-introduced laws that produced approval for the use of military force against them.
In response to the January 20 executive order, the State Department has drafted a list of cartels it believes should be designated as foreign terrorist organizations, according to officials familiar with the issue. No official designation has been made yet.
Extremist Muslim groups make up the majority of currently listed foreign terrorist organizations. These groups differ in important ways from cartels.
Although former staff and analysts share operational similarities, the cartels say they are essentially commercial organisations rather than ideological organisations inherently. They are not interested in governing the population or seizing territory. And they are, in some cases, deeply entangled in parts of the Mexican government, with the US military actively partnering and supporting anti-drug initiatives.
