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New reporting claims CIA operatives have participated in covert lethal missions targeting cartel figures in Mexico as tensions rise between Washington and Mexico City over sovereignty and security cooperation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Central Intelligence Agency has reportedly expanded its role in Mexico’s cartel war from intelligence gathering into covert operational activity that includes participation in targeted lethal missions against drug trafficking organizations, according to a lengthy CNN investigation.
The report alleges that CIA personnel were involved in a March 28 operation that killed Francisco Beltran, an alleged Sinaloa Cartel operative known as “El Payin,” when an explosive device hidden inside his vehicle detonated on a highway outside Mexico City.
Beltran and his driver were killed instantly in the blast. Mexican authorities confirmed that an explosive device had been planted in the vehicle, while multiple sources cited by CNN said CIA operations officers facilitated the attack.
According to the report, the operation was part of a broader covert campaign led by the CIA’s elite Ground Branch unit, which has reportedly intensified anti-cartel activity inside Mexico since 2025.
Sources cited by CNN said the agency’s role has evolved from intelligence support into direct operational participation in missions targeting cartel figures ranging from senior leadership to mid-level operatives.
“The lethality of their operations has been seriously ramped up,” one source briefed on the operations told CNN. “It’s a significant expansion of the kind of thing the CIA has been willing to do inside Mexico.”
CNN reported that the CIA declined to comment before publication. After publication, CIA spokeswoman Liz Lyons issued a statement rejecting the reporting.
“This is false and salacious reporting that serves as nothing more than a PR campaign for the cartels and puts American lives at risk,” Lyons said, according to CNN, though the statement reportedly did not specify which portions of the report were inaccurate.
The alleged escalation follows President Donald Trump’s designation of several Mexican criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations early in his second term.
According to CNN, the Trump administration subsequently expanded authorities for covert action in Latin America and increased surveillance operations over Mexico while reviewing legal options for the use of lethal force against cartel organizations.
The administration’s recently released counterterrorism strategy stated that the “neutralization” of Western Hemisphere cartels is its highest operational priority and asserted that the United States would continue taking action against designated organizations even without cooperation from foreign governments if necessary.
“We will do so in concert with local governments when they are willing and able to work with us,” the strategy document states. “If they cannot, or will not, we will still take whatever action is necessary to protect our country, especially if the government in question is complicit with the cartels.”
The report described growing American distrust toward segments of the Mexican government and security services, with U.S. officials reportedly concerned that cartel organizations have infiltrated portions of Mexico’s law enforcement and political institutions.
That tension intensified following a methamphetamine laboratory raid in Chihuahua involving CIA operatives operating alongside local authorities. According to CNN, Mexico’s federal government later said the operation had not been fully authorized.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly criticized foreign operational activity conducted without federal approval.
“There cannot be agents from any US government institution operating in the Mexican field,” Sheinbaum said during a news conference after the incident became public.
“Let us hope this is an exceptional case,” she added. “And that a situation like this never happens again.”
Mexico’s Secretary of Security Omar Garcia Harfuch also rejected claims suggesting unilateral foreign lethal operations were occurring inside Mexico. In a statement posted on X, Harfuch said, “The Government of Mexico categorically rejects any version that seeks to normalize, justify, or suggest the existence of lethal, covert, or unilateral operations by foreign agencies on national territory.”
CNN reported that while some operations may involve cooperation with select Mexican officials or regional authorities, not all missions appear to be coordinated through Mexico’s federal government.
The report further stated that CIA personnel were present during the February operation that killed Jalisco cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. While Mexican forces reportedly conducted the strike itself, U.S. operatives allegedly provided real-time intelligence, equipment, and operational support nearby.
According to CNN, cartel violence erupted following El Mencho’s death, with buses and businesses set ablaze while gun battles broke out across portions of Jalisco. U.S. officials reportedly scrambled to relocate American personnel operating in affected areas amid fears of retaliation.
The report also detailed long-standing security concerns involving corruption inside Mexican police and military institutions. U.S. officials referenced a 2012 ambush in which Mexican federal police officers attacked a U.S. Embassy armored vehicle carrying CIA personnel and a Mexican marine.
At the time, American officials suspected cartel involvement in orchestrating the attack. Twelve Mexican officers were later convicted of attempted murder.
CNN also reported that the CIA has increasingly worked with state and local Mexican authorities rather than relying exclusively on federal coordination channels because of concerns regarding cartel infiltration within parts of the Mexican government.
The report noted that Ron Johnson, a former CIA paramilitary officer who now serves as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has played a major role in coordinating the administration’s anti-cartel strategy.
“The United States and Mexico continue to take decisive bilateral action to disrupt and dismantle the transnational cartels that threaten communities on both sides of the border,” a State Department spokesperson said in comments cited by CNN.
The report comes as relations between Washington and Mexico City remain strained over cartel violence, border security, and sovereignty concerns. Sheinbaum previously argued that foreign military or intelligence actions conducted without authorization would violate Mexico’s sovereignty.
“What we want to make clear in the face of this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said previously regarding cartel terrorist designations. “This cannot be an opportunity on the part of the United States to invade our sovereignty.”
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